Hi there,
Well ...Chris and I are still in the UK eating our way around the country and getting back to normal weight before flying back to the states this coming Thursday. We did our first swim session with the masters squad in Shrewsbury where Chris's mother lives and that was a shock to the system. There weren't many swimming pools in Africa with masters swimming sessions and so the body kinda died on Saturday. It was good to be back in water and we are also back running. The running has been tough on Chris's legs as they are so used to cycling -- he had to walk backwards after running one day as a result of the cramps he was getting. A soft tissue massage from yours truely sorted them out and although he is not 100% at least he can walk forwards and not look like a character out of a John Cleese play or a Little Britain skit!!!
Unfortunately the other task that I have been doing is pestering British Airways as they lost my bike in transit from South Africa to London. I am still bikeless 5 days later!!! British Airways managed to lose my bike on our flight from Cape Town on the 23rd May and they still can not find it!!! The BA folks in South Africa claim that it left the country AND London BA have lost it and BA London are claiming the opposite. Bottom line --- no bike, no tent, no cycling clothes, no second place trophies, no knick knacks from the trip. Fingers crossed that they find it...apparently it is like finding a needle in the haystack at Lost Luggage Heathrow so myhopes are not high.
Chris posted the words to his song that he sang in the talent quest we had on the second to last evening of the tour. It was well received and very entertaining for us but I'm sure some of you will be wondering who half the people are but you know the rules..what goes on tour stays on tour!!!
I have to call BA again....later
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Talent Show Song!
This song was delivered in fine style in the evening at our last camp site on Friday May 11th. Yes, there were some red faces..but also a lot of laughter. Sung to the tune of Wild Rover by the Pogues:
1. There once was a bike ride from Cairo to Cape
30 plus idiots paid ten grand to partake
They pedalled from sunrise until they were dead
Then lay about wasted with legs full of lead
Chorus:
Please God no more cycling
No more red raw crotch pain
Let my legs have a rest
Let's do something else
2. There's Adrie from Holland who just wont give up
And Gunther from Belgium with talent galore
Andy from Canada farts all the time
Jan is an old guy who sneaks to the line
(Chorus)
3. Andy from Scotland has his ups and downs
While Alice from Joburg rarely ever frowns
Josh is a work horse who powers away
He grags his mate Douglas who bounces all day
(Chorus)
4. Secret liaisons have been common place
Just look round this camp for the very red face
Duncan and Lucette will get the first prize
For bonking in the dirt well before sunrise
(Chorus)
5. Then there are the couples who share a tent
I've been told not to mention there names in this song
Suffice it to say that their love is red hot
Old married couples they're certainly not!
(Chorus)
6. Adrie and Eva are tightly shacked up
Their nocturnal action has broken their tent
Miles and Rachel talk into the night
Dialogue peppered with squeals of delight
(Chorus)
7. There's also a young girl whose always on heat
She's famous for chasing a fresh piece of meat
Be careful when entering your sleeping bag
Inside it you might find a short dumpy dag
(Chorus)
8. Gunther's a Belgian with plenty of power
Cigarettes and alcohol he likes to devour
Sometimes he struggles to get out of his tent
But he'll still race you so hard that your bike ends up bent
(Chorus)
9. When needing a good laugh just go look up Sean
Known as "the baby" he was only just born
His wisdom will amaze you, though King Solomon he's not
A short conversation will show he's lost the plot
(Chorus)
10. Of course I must mention the TDA staff
Jack's accurate route descriptions make everyone laugh
If we get pissed off they're quick to contend
That Africa is supposed to drive you round the bend
(Chorus)
11. Elaine and Rachel are happiest when drunk
They both like a man with plenty of spunk
Give them a few drinks and they get quite rude
Sooner or later you can bet they'll be nude
(Chorus)
12. This trip has been tiring with way too much stew
More shitting in holes I just don't want to do
My bike shorts are worn out, my sperm count is low
Why the fuck I did this I really don't know
(Chorus)
1. There once was a bike ride from Cairo to Cape
30 plus idiots paid ten grand to partake
They pedalled from sunrise until they were dead
Then lay about wasted with legs full of lead
Chorus:
Please God no more cycling
No more red raw crotch pain
Let my legs have a rest
Let's do something else
2. There's Adrie from Holland who just wont give up
And Gunther from Belgium with talent galore
Andy from Canada farts all the time
Jan is an old guy who sneaks to the line
(Chorus)
3. Andy from Scotland has his ups and downs
While Alice from Joburg rarely ever frowns
Josh is a work horse who powers away
He grags his mate Douglas who bounces all day
(Chorus)
4. Secret liaisons have been common place
Just look round this camp for the very red face
Duncan and Lucette will get the first prize
For bonking in the dirt well before sunrise
(Chorus)
5. Then there are the couples who share a tent
I've been told not to mention there names in this song
Suffice it to say that their love is red hot
Old married couples they're certainly not!
(Chorus)
6. Adrie and Eva are tightly shacked up
Their nocturnal action has broken their tent
Miles and Rachel talk into the night
Dialogue peppered with squeals of delight
(Chorus)
7. There's also a young girl whose always on heat
She's famous for chasing a fresh piece of meat
Be careful when entering your sleeping bag
Inside it you might find a short dumpy dag
(Chorus)
8. Gunther's a Belgian with plenty of power
Cigarettes and alcohol he likes to devour
Sometimes he struggles to get out of his tent
But he'll still race you so hard that your bike ends up bent
(Chorus)
9. When needing a good laugh just go look up Sean
Known as "the baby" he was only just born
His wisdom will amaze you, though King Solomon he's not
A short conversation will show he's lost the plot
(Chorus)
10. Of course I must mention the TDA staff
Jack's accurate route descriptions make everyone laugh
If we get pissed off they're quick to contend
That Africa is supposed to drive you round the bend
(Chorus)
11. Elaine and Rachel are happiest when drunk
They both like a man with plenty of spunk
Give them a few drinks and they get quite rude
Sooner or later you can bet they'll be nude
(Chorus)
12. This trip has been tiring with way too much stew
More shitting in holes I just don't want to do
My bike shorts are worn out, my sperm count is low
Why the fuck I did this I really don't know
(Chorus)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
We did it!!!
Hey Team Janet-and-Chris-in-Africa!!!
We did it!! We arrived in Cape Town on May the 12th to a buzz that was unbelievable and a huge crowd of family and friends of the TDA riders from all around the world, including my dad who had traveled all the way from New Zealand. There were also a few surprises such as Rich one of our clients and friends from San Diego who was at the finish line. I looked up after crossing the line and there was my dad who I knew would be there and standing next to him was the fabulous Rich. Great fun. Jan from Holland got to the finish line and the next thing he knew he had a blonde hanging around his neck giving him kisses. His wife had flown in to surprise him and Rach our lekker TDA staff member knew she was coming but it it very secret. It was a blast to see Jan's face, he was beaming from ear to ear..very much an 'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' moment. Chris and I both enjoyed Jan's company on the Tour, not only racing but also socially and we will be hooking up with him next February in Canada as Jan is a hot cross country skier!!
Besides family and friends there was also an array of African dancers and drums and members of the public at the waterfront who were just hanging out in the shopping area wondering what on earth all these cyclists were doing. The Cape Town Waterfront complex is very much like the Auckland Viaduct and a really good looking place to have a race finish. Seagulls, boats, lots of noise, shops, restaurants, people having lunch under umbrellas etc. The weather was superb - hot and sunny and a great view of Table Mountain in the background, we couldn't have asked for a better day. Once we arrived at the finish, our bikes were taken by little helpers who placed them in a safe place (a tent near the ampitheatre) and we all then had to get flags of our respective countries and proceed in an orderly manner to the ampitheatre where the Mayoress of Cape Town was going to welcome us and then give us our finishing medals. We all had on our new Tour d'Afrique Cycling bike jerseys and so I must say we all looked great. We had to stand on stage during the official speeches and then it was team photos, individual country photos with flags and then we were given a little reception nearby which included champagne and food!! All this happened between 2 and 4pm and it was quite emotional and hectic at the same time. Lots of hugs and kisses and hellos to TDA family members who were busy putting faces to names that they had either read on the official TDA website or the individual blogs. It was madness!!
However, girlfriends - you would have been proud of me - while all of this madness was going on - I managed to:
1. circulate,
2. give all the team congratulations-we-did-it-hugs
3. find my husband who had disappeared earlier in the day - read the next paragraph AND more importantly
4. also managed to nip out to do a spot of shopping and buy a hot dress!!! On Saturday morning while we were all riding in to meet the police (who were going to lead us convoy style into Cape Town), a couple of the riders asked me why I was riding so fast! My response - I'm on a mission to find a dress! After 4 months of being on a bike I was not about to turn up to the finale dinner in bike shorts or REI overland/cargo trousers. I had been telling all the girls that I was going to buy a little black dress and I did, in record time - less than 10 minutes. Inbetween sipping champagne and eating spring rolls I bought a dress. I could tell by the look on the faces of the women in the Marion and Linde store that they were not used to seeing a female cyclist in cycling gear including the mandatory clicking Shimano cycling shoes! I asked for a little black dress that had to cover the cycling shorts tan lines on my legs and without any hesitation one appeared. I put it on and it looked hillarious with my cycling shoes but as the assistant said..if it took 12,000km to get legs like mine she would ride a bike too! I didn't have the heart to tell her that legs like mine were genetic but hey if it means another woman hits the tar pedalling then who's checking little white lies huh!
So re lost husband. We left our beach camp at 7.30am and had until 12.30pm to make it to the point where the Cape Town police were going to convoy us into the finish line. It was only about 60km and Chris didn't see the point in hanging around when he could ride all the way to Cape Town, check into the hotel we were all staying at, shower and eat all before our arrival at the finish line at 2pm. So, he did just that!! Some of the riders were concerned that he would not be with us at the finish but he was. We couldn't miss him. All our gear was on Doris the truck and so when Chris got to Cape Town he went to the Nike store and bought some clothes as all he had were his cycling clothes. He also bought some new running shoes..racing flats that could be seen in the dark. There was Chris..black shorts, white t-shirt and irridescent green shoes. The team all laughed when we saw the shoes ..honestly they were bright!!! He joined us on stage with the TDA cycling jersey but those shoes....they were bright. I will publish some photos when I get back state side and you will see them gems!!!One other husband got lost as well.....when we got to the convoy start point Adrie wasn't there either, Eva and Jan and the rest of the Dutch group had no idea where he had got to. Turns out that he missed the traffic light (or robot if you are from South Africa) and he inadvertently rode into Cape Town. Hillarious that the number one and two racer boys missed the convoy..one planned it, the other missed the right turn and sailed through to Cape Town.
After the medal ceremony we all had the task of emptying out our red boxes as Doris was leaving the next morning to head back to Joberg. What a job. Chris and I donated most of our gear to the 'give it to someone who needs it pile'. We gave our mountaineering 5 season tent to Joash from Kenya as he is a mountain guide on Mt Kenya and Kilimanjaro when he is not guiding the blind rider Douglas. His face was priceless when I handed it to him. He deserved it..he worked his ass off for Douglas and if he was riding individually he would have given Chris and Adrie a good running especially on them hills! We gave our thermarest sleeping mats to Jack, our camelpack hydration units to Windy from Ethiopia with instructions to give one to Mahmoosh who was one of the riders we rode with us in Ethiopia. Spare bike parts and tyres went to the pile as well as Chris's cyclocross shoes which were on their last legs, water bottles went in the rubbish pile and so compared to when we started back in January we're currently lighter in terms of gear. While doing all this and trying to get it done before the dinner time of 7.00pm we found out that there were no accommodation bookings for the African Routes guys - Trevor and Wimpey which we thought was really poor. These guys worked their butts off for us and you would have thought that TDA or AfRoutes management would have made sure the boys had some kind of room for the night. I guess they could have slept on the truck but Chris and I thought that sucked so we did the right thing in our minds and booked them a room. Trevor and Wimpey deserved it and we were pleased to see them at breakfast the next morning - slightly worse for wear - after our finale dinner but having had sleep and food before embarking on a 20 hour drive to Joberg.
The dinner was great and the prize giving was good for Chris and I - having won some sections between us we got books for those section wins as well as overall second place trophies in the form of African masks and bowls. How we are going to pack them is anyones guess but we'll figure it out.
Today is Saturday 19th and we are in a coastal town called Plettenberg Bay which is on the Garden Route. Chris is doing a work out at the Virgin Avtive Gym as his legs are doing crazy things like cramping so bad when he runs that he can hardly walk.He's found that if he does a cycle first..yes can you believe it - he can run after and so he needs the gym as we left our bikes in Cape Town. As for me, my body is in great form. I did an hour and a half run this morning along a river trail about 50km away at a Lodge we stayed at and it was great. My dad was with us this past week and we had a good time. We left Cape Town last Monday and stayed in Stellenbosch at a boutique wine/country lodge called L'Avenir..as you do..Monday night. It was a blast. We were the only people at the lodge and so it seemed like we had our very own country house for the evening. It was a beautiful place. Wine tasting in the afternoon, fire place, luxury couches and cheese and a bottle of their 2005 Pinotage to kill time with. Much better way to pass the day than riding a bike huh!
We then went towards George and stayed at the Point Hotel in Mossel Bay..superb views of wild coastline. Very much like New Zealand. Dad took lots of photos and then it was on towards Knysna where we had lunch in the harbour and then mossied onto Plettenberg Bay where we stayed in a really nice B and B. Small world. The owners two sons are golfers in the states. One was on the PGA tour until he injured his wrist and had to have surgery and now on the Nationwide Tour and the other son is on a golf scholarship in Columbia.We talked sports over breakfast and gave them my business card just in case he needed a second opinion regarding his rehab. Dad had a flight out of Port Elizabeth yesterday hence our need to get there by Friday and so we drove from Plettenberg Bay - past Goose Point - Gary Players home golf course to Port Elizabeth on Thursday. We stopped off in Jefferys Bay - a renowned surf spot for lunch and checked out the break where the Billabong surf competition will be held in July. Nice break and beautiful beach --once again though - I swear I could have been in one of many beaches in New Zealand.
It's great to see South Africa keeping their beaches, road sides and national parks so clean but it does bother me to still see the poor housing that many African native people still live in. It's been 15 years or so since the end of segregation and a lot has been achieved but when you see the projects/tin shacks for housing along the sides of the roads - hundreds of them across the road from fabulous million dollar houses it still causes a lump in my throat.Maybe in twenty years time it will be a thing of the past, Here's hoping.
OK so Chris is back from his work out..time to eat.
Hope you are all well. Off to check out Ostrich racing.
Cheers
We did it!! We arrived in Cape Town on May the 12th to a buzz that was unbelievable and a huge crowd of family and friends of the TDA riders from all around the world, including my dad who had traveled all the way from New Zealand. There were also a few surprises such as Rich one of our clients and friends from San Diego who was at the finish line. I looked up after crossing the line and there was my dad who I knew would be there and standing next to him was the fabulous Rich. Great fun. Jan from Holland got to the finish line and the next thing he knew he had a blonde hanging around his neck giving him kisses. His wife had flown in to surprise him and Rach our lekker TDA staff member knew she was coming but it it very secret. It was a blast to see Jan's face, he was beaming from ear to ear..very much an 'ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh' moment. Chris and I both enjoyed Jan's company on the Tour, not only racing but also socially and we will be hooking up with him next February in Canada as Jan is a hot cross country skier!!
Besides family and friends there was also an array of African dancers and drums and members of the public at the waterfront who were just hanging out in the shopping area wondering what on earth all these cyclists were doing. The Cape Town Waterfront complex is very much like the Auckland Viaduct and a really good looking place to have a race finish. Seagulls, boats, lots of noise, shops, restaurants, people having lunch under umbrellas etc. The weather was superb - hot and sunny and a great view of Table Mountain in the background, we couldn't have asked for a better day. Once we arrived at the finish, our bikes were taken by little helpers who placed them in a safe place (a tent near the ampitheatre) and we all then had to get flags of our respective countries and proceed in an orderly manner to the ampitheatre where the Mayoress of Cape Town was going to welcome us and then give us our finishing medals. We all had on our new Tour d'Afrique Cycling bike jerseys and so I must say we all looked great. We had to stand on stage during the official speeches and then it was team photos, individual country photos with flags and then we were given a little reception nearby which included champagne and food!! All this happened between 2 and 4pm and it was quite emotional and hectic at the same time. Lots of hugs and kisses and hellos to TDA family members who were busy putting faces to names that they had either read on the official TDA website or the individual blogs. It was madness!!
However, girlfriends - you would have been proud of me - while all of this madness was going on - I managed to:
1. circulate,
2. give all the team congratulations-we-did-it-hugs
3. find my husband who had disappeared earlier in the day - read the next paragraph AND more importantly
4. also managed to nip out to do a spot of shopping and buy a hot dress!!! On Saturday morning while we were all riding in to meet the police (who were going to lead us convoy style into Cape Town), a couple of the riders asked me why I was riding so fast! My response - I'm on a mission to find a dress! After 4 months of being on a bike I was not about to turn up to the finale dinner in bike shorts or REI overland/cargo trousers. I had been telling all the girls that I was going to buy a little black dress and I did, in record time - less than 10 minutes. Inbetween sipping champagne and eating spring rolls I bought a dress. I could tell by the look on the faces of the women in the Marion and Linde store that they were not used to seeing a female cyclist in cycling gear including the mandatory clicking Shimano cycling shoes! I asked for a little black dress that had to cover the cycling shorts tan lines on my legs and without any hesitation one appeared. I put it on and it looked hillarious with my cycling shoes but as the assistant said..if it took 12,000km to get legs like mine she would ride a bike too! I didn't have the heart to tell her that legs like mine were genetic but hey if it means another woman hits the tar pedalling then who's checking little white lies huh!
So re lost husband. We left our beach camp at 7.30am and had until 12.30pm to make it to the point where the Cape Town police were going to convoy us into the finish line. It was only about 60km and Chris didn't see the point in hanging around when he could ride all the way to Cape Town, check into the hotel we were all staying at, shower and eat all before our arrival at the finish line at 2pm. So, he did just that!! Some of the riders were concerned that he would not be with us at the finish but he was. We couldn't miss him. All our gear was on Doris the truck and so when Chris got to Cape Town he went to the Nike store and bought some clothes as all he had were his cycling clothes. He also bought some new running shoes..racing flats that could be seen in the dark. There was Chris..black shorts, white t-shirt and irridescent green shoes. The team all laughed when we saw the shoes ..honestly they were bright!!! He joined us on stage with the TDA cycling jersey but those shoes....they were bright. I will publish some photos when I get back state side and you will see them gems!!!One other husband got lost as well.....when we got to the convoy start point Adrie wasn't there either, Eva and Jan and the rest of the Dutch group had no idea where he had got to. Turns out that he missed the traffic light (or robot if you are from South Africa) and he inadvertently rode into Cape Town. Hillarious that the number one and two racer boys missed the convoy..one planned it, the other missed the right turn and sailed through to Cape Town.
After the medal ceremony we all had the task of emptying out our red boxes as Doris was leaving the next morning to head back to Joberg. What a job. Chris and I donated most of our gear to the 'give it to someone who needs it pile'. We gave our mountaineering 5 season tent to Joash from Kenya as he is a mountain guide on Mt Kenya and Kilimanjaro when he is not guiding the blind rider Douglas. His face was priceless when I handed it to him. He deserved it..he worked his ass off for Douglas and if he was riding individually he would have given Chris and Adrie a good running especially on them hills! We gave our thermarest sleeping mats to Jack, our camelpack hydration units to Windy from Ethiopia with instructions to give one to Mahmoosh who was one of the riders we rode with us in Ethiopia. Spare bike parts and tyres went to the pile as well as Chris's cyclocross shoes which were on their last legs, water bottles went in the rubbish pile and so compared to when we started back in January we're currently lighter in terms of gear. While doing all this and trying to get it done before the dinner time of 7.00pm we found out that there were no accommodation bookings for the African Routes guys - Trevor and Wimpey which we thought was really poor. These guys worked their butts off for us and you would have thought that TDA or AfRoutes management would have made sure the boys had some kind of room for the night. I guess they could have slept on the truck but Chris and I thought that sucked so we did the right thing in our minds and booked them a room. Trevor and Wimpey deserved it and we were pleased to see them at breakfast the next morning - slightly worse for wear - after our finale dinner but having had sleep and food before embarking on a 20 hour drive to Joberg.
The dinner was great and the prize giving was good for Chris and I - having won some sections between us we got books for those section wins as well as overall second place trophies in the form of African masks and bowls. How we are going to pack them is anyones guess but we'll figure it out.
Today is Saturday 19th and we are in a coastal town called Plettenberg Bay which is on the Garden Route. Chris is doing a work out at the Virgin Avtive Gym as his legs are doing crazy things like cramping so bad when he runs that he can hardly walk.He's found that if he does a cycle first..yes can you believe it - he can run after and so he needs the gym as we left our bikes in Cape Town. As for me, my body is in great form. I did an hour and a half run this morning along a river trail about 50km away at a Lodge we stayed at and it was great. My dad was with us this past week and we had a good time. We left Cape Town last Monday and stayed in Stellenbosch at a boutique wine/country lodge called L'Avenir..as you do..Monday night. It was a blast. We were the only people at the lodge and so it seemed like we had our very own country house for the evening. It was a beautiful place. Wine tasting in the afternoon, fire place, luxury couches and cheese and a bottle of their 2005 Pinotage to kill time with. Much better way to pass the day than riding a bike huh!
We then went towards George and stayed at the Point Hotel in Mossel Bay..superb views of wild coastline. Very much like New Zealand. Dad took lots of photos and then it was on towards Knysna where we had lunch in the harbour and then mossied onto Plettenberg Bay where we stayed in a really nice B and B. Small world. The owners two sons are golfers in the states. One was on the PGA tour until he injured his wrist and had to have surgery and now on the Nationwide Tour and the other son is on a golf scholarship in Columbia.We talked sports over breakfast and gave them my business card just in case he needed a second opinion regarding his rehab. Dad had a flight out of Port Elizabeth yesterday hence our need to get there by Friday and so we drove from Plettenberg Bay - past Goose Point - Gary Players home golf course to Port Elizabeth on Thursday. We stopped off in Jefferys Bay - a renowned surf spot for lunch and checked out the break where the Billabong surf competition will be held in July. Nice break and beautiful beach --once again though - I swear I could have been in one of many beaches in New Zealand.
It's great to see South Africa keeping their beaches, road sides and national parks so clean but it does bother me to still see the poor housing that many African native people still live in. It's been 15 years or so since the end of segregation and a lot has been achieved but when you see the projects/tin shacks for housing along the sides of the roads - hundreds of them across the road from fabulous million dollar houses it still causes a lump in my throat.Maybe in twenty years time it will be a thing of the past, Here's hoping.
OK so Chris is back from his work out..time to eat.
Hope you are all well. Off to check out Ostrich racing.
Cheers
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Chris has a birthday in Africa!
Hi there from Windhoek the capital city of Namibia!
It's been a big week for two reasons.
One being the 840kms of cycling in five days - close tot he type of mileage that pro riders do - flat long sections 160km, 160km, 208km in Botswanna, 150km to the Botswanna/Namibia border and 160km into Windhoek. The last two days had cross winds and full on head winds that made us question why the hell we were on bikes!!!! The last half of Fridays ride was tough going and so it was with a big exhausting sigh that we headed into two rest days. Saturday and Sunday have been spent relaxing and swanning by the pool for Chris and I who opted to stay at a hotel instead of camping up the road with the rest of the group. Some of us hit the mall for ice cream and a spot of retail therapy in our first European African city since Cairo. It was odd to see western shops including a Vigin Gym and Pool. It showed that we had got quite used to the typical African stall on the side of the road and at it's best a Shopright or Spa Supermarket. Windhoek is very German and so hence all the shops. We did however capitalise on the German influence and spent quite a lot of time adding calories to our diet in the form of German pastries and cakes. Oh la la they were good!!! We also found a great bike shp called Cycology and and repairs were made to bikes that have been making too many creaking noises and Patrick the owner is going to ride part of the course in the morning. HIs wife also gave us massages and so the body is in a better state than when it arrived on Friday.
The second reason why it's been a big week is because Chris turned the big 'four 0' last Thursday and he celebrated that by riding 150km to a bush camp. Champagne wasn't available in the middle of nowhere Namibia and so he had to settle for a belated celebration. The other crazy thing is that he and Adrie the race leader share the same birthday and so the TDA staff organised balloons and a treasure hunt/race for both of them as the actual TDA cycle race always ends up with the two of them sprinting for the line. In this case Chris got all the clues first and so was the first to the chocolate and yoghurt that they had hidden in the Toyota. When you are in the last stages of a cycle tour through Africa, celebrating a birthday with choclolate and yoghurt beats champagne anytime...(according to them..me..? I would have gone for the champagne!!) He did however eventually get cake! Dean the TDA bike mechanic was very generous and beat me to it. He went ahead to Windhoek and had a couple of days off and in his travels came across a superb bakery and had a piece of cake that he knew Chris would love. So when we arrived on Friday night he presented Chris with an entire chocolate cake that was so decadent that there is still half of it in the fridge!! I had a slither and it sent me into a sugar coma, as for Chris I'm sure he'll polish it off for dessert tonight.
So..we head to Fish River Canyon in the morning which is on the border of Namibia and South Africa and we will arrive there in five days time. 12 more days of riding and then we hit Cape Town. Can you believe it? We are in the home stretch. We ride 155km tomorrow and the first 30km is hilly and then it is flat for three days before we hit two off road days and a time trial. WOW!
I spoke to my dad tonight as he is in Joberg and quite jetlagged having travelled from Auckland New Zealand, via Melbourne and Dubai to be in Joberg today. He heads off to do a Soweto tour then a safari tour of Kruger Park and then Vic Falls before meeting me in Cape Town on the 12th. It will be a blast to see a familiar face at the finish line. We've all been told that it will end in tears and that the finish is quite emotional as we have all been living and riding together for 4 and a 1/2 months and so are now very close and our own kinda family. It will be strange not to see their faces at 5.30am over a cup of tea and the bicycle pump..hmmmmmm.
Anyway, Chris has just arrived back from sorting out his rear wheel and the crisis is now over..we can relax and have dinner. To my nephew Nicholas..hope your 21st birthday was a lot of fun..I'll see you later in the year..and wonderful Dan in La Jolla California ..you have a great birthday May 7th..tell Michelle to give you hugs on my behalf!!!
Love ya guys
Over and out from Windhoek, Namibia
It's been a big week for two reasons.
One being the 840kms of cycling in five days - close tot he type of mileage that pro riders do - flat long sections 160km, 160km, 208km in Botswanna, 150km to the Botswanna/Namibia border and 160km into Windhoek. The last two days had cross winds and full on head winds that made us question why the hell we were on bikes!!!! The last half of Fridays ride was tough going and so it was with a big exhausting sigh that we headed into two rest days. Saturday and Sunday have been spent relaxing and swanning by the pool for Chris and I who opted to stay at a hotel instead of camping up the road with the rest of the group. Some of us hit the mall for ice cream and a spot of retail therapy in our first European African city since Cairo. It was odd to see western shops including a Vigin Gym and Pool. It showed that we had got quite used to the typical African stall on the side of the road and at it's best a Shopright or Spa Supermarket. Windhoek is very German and so hence all the shops. We did however capitalise on the German influence and spent quite a lot of time adding calories to our diet in the form of German pastries and cakes. Oh la la they were good!!! We also found a great bike shp called Cycology and and repairs were made to bikes that have been making too many creaking noises and Patrick the owner is going to ride part of the course in the morning. HIs wife also gave us massages and so the body is in a better state than when it arrived on Friday.
The second reason why it's been a big week is because Chris turned the big 'four 0' last Thursday and he celebrated that by riding 150km to a bush camp. Champagne wasn't available in the middle of nowhere Namibia and so he had to settle for a belated celebration. The other crazy thing is that he and Adrie the race leader share the same birthday and so the TDA staff organised balloons and a treasure hunt/race for both of them as the actual TDA cycle race always ends up with the two of them sprinting for the line. In this case Chris got all the clues first and so was the first to the chocolate and yoghurt that they had hidden in the Toyota. When you are in the last stages of a cycle tour through Africa, celebrating a birthday with choclolate and yoghurt beats champagne anytime...(according to them..me..? I would have gone for the champagne!!) He did however eventually get cake! Dean the TDA bike mechanic was very generous and beat me to it. He went ahead to Windhoek and had a couple of days off and in his travels came across a superb bakery and had a piece of cake that he knew Chris would love. So when we arrived on Friday night he presented Chris with an entire chocolate cake that was so decadent that there is still half of it in the fridge!! I had a slither and it sent me into a sugar coma, as for Chris I'm sure he'll polish it off for dessert tonight.
So..we head to Fish River Canyon in the morning which is on the border of Namibia and South Africa and we will arrive there in five days time. 12 more days of riding and then we hit Cape Town. Can you believe it? We are in the home stretch. We ride 155km tomorrow and the first 30km is hilly and then it is flat for three days before we hit two off road days and a time trial. WOW!
I spoke to my dad tonight as he is in Joberg and quite jetlagged having travelled from Auckland New Zealand, via Melbourne and Dubai to be in Joberg today. He heads off to do a Soweto tour then a safari tour of Kruger Park and then Vic Falls before meeting me in Cape Town on the 12th. It will be a blast to see a familiar face at the finish line. We've all been told that it will end in tears and that the finish is quite emotional as we have all been living and riding together for 4 and a 1/2 months and so are now very close and our own kinda family. It will be strange not to see their faces at 5.30am over a cup of tea and the bicycle pump..hmmmmmm.
Anyway, Chris has just arrived back from sorting out his rear wheel and the crisis is now over..we can relax and have dinner. To my nephew Nicholas..hope your 21st birthday was a lot of fun..I'll see you later in the year..and wonderful Dan in La Jolla California ..you have a great birthday May 7th..tell Michelle to give you hugs on my behalf!!!
Love ya guys
Over and out from Windhoek, Namibia
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Where has the time gone!!
Hello to one and all!
It is April 22nd and we are in a town called Maun, Botswana and we have less than three weeks to go before we hit Cape Town. None of us can quite beleive that 'd' day is fast approaching. Have we really cycled 9,000kms to date? Is this trip of a life time almost over? Do we all have to go back to our respective homes and start working and get real jobs? Can our bodies adjust to sleeping in and not wake up at 4.30am-5.00am? Will we be able to cope with a new breakfast routine that does not involve taking down tents, packing a red box and pumping up tires ready for the 160km ride of the day? Will we be able to sit at starbucks in the morning when our bodies are looking for the lunch truck at 9.30am and a coke stop at 1.00pm? Life will be different after May 12 but I tell you what..we have had the time of our lives and would not have missed any of it -including the broken wrist - for the world!!!!!! OK we could have ditched the wrist injury but we are all in high spirits..somewhat jaded as we have hit high temperatures again..it was 41 degrees celcius yesterday but a rest day does wonders for our souls!!
This morning Dave and Alice from South Africa, Jan from Holland and Chris and I took a flight over the Okavango Delta. It was truely amazing to see the delta and all the wild life from the air in a five seater plane. It was an hour flight and we saw elephants, giraffe's, wilderbeest, hipos, bird life just doing their normal day to day thing oblivious to us up in the sky.The delta is in the middle of two fault lines. One fault line is in the south at Maun..the town we are having our rest day in and the other is miles north near the Angola border. The difference between the two fault lines is only 150 meters spread over miles and miles of ancient sands, hundreds of meters deep which buffers the movement of the underlying fault lines. The rainy season in the highlands of Southern Angola - the rain clouds over the Bie Plateau provide the rain and flood waters which journey thousands of miles through the Makgadikgadi Basin and disperses in an annual inpouring upon arrival at the Delta. The water seeps into the massive, shallow floodplain changing the delta and bringing water to the animals. At the moment you can see the flood water moving toward Maun and apparently in August everything will be covered in the immediate area close to Maun and so it will look like a large mass of water with little islands. We flew this morning for about ten minutes before we saw the flooded channels with lily pads and long grass swaying in the breeze and water holes. Prior to this is wide open space and the elephants and giraffes are cruising looking for shade and food.Check it out on the internet, there is nothing like it in the world.I took some video footage but have no idea how it will work out. It was a blast.
OK and so back to the race....Chris won the individual 40km time trial by 16sec over Adrie when we left Livingstone, Vic Falls - Zambia and his team also won the 40km team time trial yesterday, breaking the one hour mark with a great time of 59.47sec. It was supposed to be for fun and their team was the UK team called 'Tea and Scones' made up of Andy from Scotland, Ian from Guernsey, Phil from London and Chris.Their team strategy allowed them to whip the staff team who came in second by almost 2 minutes.Happy days for the UK boys.
My team was more style than cycling. We were called the Absolutely, Positively, Fabulous Team and so we had a great outfit...bras, bikini tops, cycling shorts, mini skirt, neck scarves and team tattoos of who we loved, "I was Prada, Alice was Gucci, Tiffany was Puppies and Sara was '60km from Kimberly..location joke..long story..will have to tell over a glass of champange when I get back story!" We were going for the look of how you could dress for cycling and even practiced our last place 'entrance' as we crossed the finish line with hands on handle bars and one leg extended out the back in a beautiful scale balance--ballerina style. This worked and got a collective laugh from the other riders as it was obvious that we were having a lot of fun. We as a team felt smug in our achievement .....however....much to our amazement our entrance to the finish was totally usurped 5 minutes later by one of the other riders who was dropped by his team and who shall remain nameless. He defintely one upped us by cycling at least a hundred meters and crossing the line minus cycling shorts and wearing them on his head as an aerodynamic accessory!! It was the most hillarious sight and all of us have not laughed so hard in a long time. He took the cake and prize for best effort!!! Of course we all took photos but they will not be published on the TDA site!!! A great time had by all.
So, some of you are probably wondering where I figured in the individual time trial. I didn't do it as I got a food bug and was flat on my back in Livingstone and was forced to stay an extra two days to let 'it pass out of my system'. Bad chicken will do that to you!! I joined the group at the second bush camp in Botswanna. That was an amazing drive as we crossed the Zambia border and instantly were stopped by a group of elephants crossing the road. This happened three times and it was a joy to see them just cruising in front of us. The other day we had a 176km ride and 10km before our camp there were at least 30 elephants just wandering along the sides of the road on both the left and right side. How can you race when that is going on? The front racers didn't see them as they had their heads down and bums up. As for me..I stopped..who cares about race results when you can see elephants just doing there thing. This section is called the Elephant highway and you can see why. We have seen them everyday for the past five days!!
I'm going backwards here but Vic Falls in Zambia is everything and more than what you hear. The noise was insane and so loud. The Zambesi River is in flood and at what they call the high, high level and so the amount of water falling over the edge is umbelievable. We couldn't white water raft as the water volume was so high and there would have been no time to recover between rapids should anyone fall out. We also looked at bungy jumping from Vic Falls bridge but the spray of water was too much and they could not adjust the tension of the elastic cord..a safety issue which one should not ignore!!!! We crossed over to Zimbabwe while we were at the falls and you can see the difference between the two countries. Zambia has benefited from what Mugabe is doing to Zim..all the tourist dollars are pouring into Zambia and no money is going into Zimbabwe..their inflation is currently 2,000% or something ridiculous and it's really sad to see what has happened to a previously properous country.
So we are in Botswanna and now head towards the Kalahari Desert and Namibia and so temperatures are going to get hot again. We have two rest days in Windhoek and celebrate Chris's 40th birthday there. His actual birthday is April 26th but the next morning may be another team trial so there will be no celebration on his part. Crazy thing is ..Chris and Adrie share the same birthdate!!Both are competitive and so birthday celebrations will be delayed.
OK..I'm sweating here and need to find a pool. Sorry for being so long in updating this blog but promise to do another in Windhoek.
Love ya
It is April 22nd and we are in a town called Maun, Botswana and we have less than three weeks to go before we hit Cape Town. None of us can quite beleive that 'd' day is fast approaching. Have we really cycled 9,000kms to date? Is this trip of a life time almost over? Do we all have to go back to our respective homes and start working and get real jobs? Can our bodies adjust to sleeping in and not wake up at 4.30am-5.00am? Will we be able to cope with a new breakfast routine that does not involve taking down tents, packing a red box and pumping up tires ready for the 160km ride of the day? Will we be able to sit at starbucks in the morning when our bodies are looking for the lunch truck at 9.30am and a coke stop at 1.00pm? Life will be different after May 12 but I tell you what..we have had the time of our lives and would not have missed any of it -including the broken wrist - for the world!!!!!! OK we could have ditched the wrist injury but we are all in high spirits..somewhat jaded as we have hit high temperatures again..it was 41 degrees celcius yesterday but a rest day does wonders for our souls!!
This morning Dave and Alice from South Africa, Jan from Holland and Chris and I took a flight over the Okavango Delta. It was truely amazing to see the delta and all the wild life from the air in a five seater plane. It was an hour flight and we saw elephants, giraffe's, wilderbeest, hipos, bird life just doing their normal day to day thing oblivious to us up in the sky.The delta is in the middle of two fault lines. One fault line is in the south at Maun..the town we are having our rest day in and the other is miles north near the Angola border. The difference between the two fault lines is only 150 meters spread over miles and miles of ancient sands, hundreds of meters deep which buffers the movement of the underlying fault lines. The rainy season in the highlands of Southern Angola - the rain clouds over the Bie Plateau provide the rain and flood waters which journey thousands of miles through the Makgadikgadi Basin and disperses in an annual inpouring upon arrival at the Delta. The water seeps into the massive, shallow floodplain changing the delta and bringing water to the animals. At the moment you can see the flood water moving toward Maun and apparently in August everything will be covered in the immediate area close to Maun and so it will look like a large mass of water with little islands. We flew this morning for about ten minutes before we saw the flooded channels with lily pads and long grass swaying in the breeze and water holes. Prior to this is wide open space and the elephants and giraffes are cruising looking for shade and food.Check it out on the internet, there is nothing like it in the world.I took some video footage but have no idea how it will work out. It was a blast.
OK and so back to the race....Chris won the individual 40km time trial by 16sec over Adrie when we left Livingstone, Vic Falls - Zambia and his team also won the 40km team time trial yesterday, breaking the one hour mark with a great time of 59.47sec. It was supposed to be for fun and their team was the UK team called 'Tea and Scones' made up of Andy from Scotland, Ian from Guernsey, Phil from London and Chris.Their team strategy allowed them to whip the staff team who came in second by almost 2 minutes.Happy days for the UK boys.
My team was more style than cycling. We were called the Absolutely, Positively, Fabulous Team and so we had a great outfit...bras, bikini tops, cycling shorts, mini skirt, neck scarves and team tattoos of who we loved, "I was Prada, Alice was Gucci, Tiffany was Puppies and Sara was '60km from Kimberly..location joke..long story..will have to tell over a glass of champange when I get back story!" We were going for the look of how you could dress for cycling and even practiced our last place 'entrance' as we crossed the finish line with hands on handle bars and one leg extended out the back in a beautiful scale balance--ballerina style. This worked and got a collective laugh from the other riders as it was obvious that we were having a lot of fun. We as a team felt smug in our achievement .....however....much to our amazement our entrance to the finish was totally usurped 5 minutes later by one of the other riders who was dropped by his team and who shall remain nameless. He defintely one upped us by cycling at least a hundred meters and crossing the line minus cycling shorts and wearing them on his head as an aerodynamic accessory!! It was the most hillarious sight and all of us have not laughed so hard in a long time. He took the cake and prize for best effort!!! Of course we all took photos but they will not be published on the TDA site!!! A great time had by all.
So, some of you are probably wondering where I figured in the individual time trial. I didn't do it as I got a food bug and was flat on my back in Livingstone and was forced to stay an extra two days to let 'it pass out of my system'. Bad chicken will do that to you!! I joined the group at the second bush camp in Botswanna. That was an amazing drive as we crossed the Zambia border and instantly were stopped by a group of elephants crossing the road. This happened three times and it was a joy to see them just cruising in front of us. The other day we had a 176km ride and 10km before our camp there were at least 30 elephants just wandering along the sides of the road on both the left and right side. How can you race when that is going on? The front racers didn't see them as they had their heads down and bums up. As for me..I stopped..who cares about race results when you can see elephants just doing there thing. This section is called the Elephant highway and you can see why. We have seen them everyday for the past five days!!
I'm going backwards here but Vic Falls in Zambia is everything and more than what you hear. The noise was insane and so loud. The Zambesi River is in flood and at what they call the high, high level and so the amount of water falling over the edge is umbelievable. We couldn't white water raft as the water volume was so high and there would have been no time to recover between rapids should anyone fall out. We also looked at bungy jumping from Vic Falls bridge but the spray of water was too much and they could not adjust the tension of the elastic cord..a safety issue which one should not ignore!!!! We crossed over to Zimbabwe while we were at the falls and you can see the difference between the two countries. Zambia has benefited from what Mugabe is doing to Zim..all the tourist dollars are pouring into Zambia and no money is going into Zimbabwe..their inflation is currently 2,000% or something ridiculous and it's really sad to see what has happened to a previously properous country.
So we are in Botswanna and now head towards the Kalahari Desert and Namibia and so temperatures are going to get hot again. We have two rest days in Windhoek and celebrate Chris's 40th birthday there. His actual birthday is April 26th but the next morning may be another team trial so there will be no celebration on his part. Crazy thing is ..Chris and Adrie share the same birthdate!!Both are competitive and so birthday celebrations will be delayed.
OK..I'm sweating here and need to find a pool. Sorry for being so long in updating this blog but promise to do another in Windhoek.
Love ya
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Chris wins Malawi Gin!!
Hi there to one and all,
You're probably wondering why the post is called 'Chris wins Malawi Gin'. I know you thought he was riding a bike in Africa and now you learn that he's winning bottles of alcohol? Is he gambling as well? Is he spending his spare moments learning how to play competition poker? (Well, actually he is as we have a new addition to the TDA family of riders called Tiffany who hails from the states and is a card shark and sharing her skills with all the boys. She's still winning but I tell ya, these boys don't give up no matter how much she fleeeces them!)
Anyway, Malawi Gin was the name of the section of stages from Iringa, Tanzania to Lilongwe, Malawi, all 1124kms. Chris won the section by 15 minutes after a superb effort over the hilly stage out of Chitimba Beach. We had a rest day in Chitimba Beach which is on the shores of Lake Malawi. Beautiful, white sandy beach, lake front camping, palm trees, little bungalows, a bit like Fiji...nothing to do. We didn't have internet connections and no shops so all we could do was sleep, eat and swim. It was an amazing rest day and everybody felt great for it. The stage started with a 15km easy ride along the shores of Lake Malawi and then at 14km there was a sharp right hand bend that went straight up this hill. We were told the night before that we would climb 1000 meters and then drop 2500 meters to a town called Mzuzu. The first climb was 25 km up! The Billy goat part of Chris's personality came out of it's wrappings and crucified the rest of the racers. He took a 15 minute chunk of time out of Adrie in the hill climb and as one of the other racer boys said..'Chris was on fire'. They did not catch him and so consequently he rode 120 kms by himself.
At the end of the stage he gratefully inhaled a home made fruit cake that Alice from Joberg's mother had made for him and sent via Patrick's brother Andre from Cape Town. Is that confusing? Basically we met Alice's parents Sue and Dave when they joined us in Nairobi and we got to know them as they also came on safari with us when we did Serengeti...AMAZING..saw the big five and Ngorongoro Crater Safari - also amazing..saw cheetahs again. While on safari Chris got talking with Sue and next thing you know he has negotiated a fruit cake..she is a babe of a woman and I love it as it means that I don't have to bake it!! She rocks. Patricks brother came to visit at Chitimba Beach and he had all sorts of goodies from fruit cakes to spare wheels to a conglomeration of bike bits!! He rode one stage with us and it was the hilly one. He did well to do that on his first day..it was tough!
Anyway, Chris is a happy boy to win a section and is looking forward to more hills in the Zambesi Zone section. We start off flat and long, 159km, 195km, and then on day three hills start again as we go trough one of the two gorges before we get to Lusaka.
As for me..I'll be happy with the flat roads as my wrist is still not quite right. I took the cast off after the three rest days in Arusha and then rehabbed it while the off road sections of Tanzania were taking place. There was lots of rain and mud and we decided that it would be crazy for me to ride those roads with a freshly healed wrist. I stayed in the truck and enjoyed the experieinces of seeing Doris truck getting stuck, digging it out, moving 200m in 5 hours and hanging out with the locals. Once we got to Iringa and we were back on tarseal/tarmac I raced the first stage and won it. It felt so good to be back on the bike I tell you it was heaven. I was so excited to be back on the bike after 5 weeks that there was no holding me back. The next day my wrist hurt like hell and I realised that I had better ease into the racing and so took it easy for the rest of the stages hence you not seeing my name in the stage wins after day one.I still have trouble holding on to the hoods and climbing as the wrist is stiff and feels like concrete. So the hilly sections are a problem but the flat sections are great as I have put my aerobars on...thanks to Richard in Encinitas who has been our saving grace and sending us things from out of our garage. Without his help I would not be riding as the aerobars make all the difference. Anyway, we ride for the Zambia border in the morning and hopefully I'll be able to race the section...fingers and toes crossed people.
We are off to clean bikes and get a load of food for the next section and so hopefully you are all well.
Love ya
You're probably wondering why the post is called 'Chris wins Malawi Gin'. I know you thought he was riding a bike in Africa and now you learn that he's winning bottles of alcohol? Is he gambling as well? Is he spending his spare moments learning how to play competition poker? (Well, actually he is as we have a new addition to the TDA family of riders called Tiffany who hails from the states and is a card shark and sharing her skills with all the boys. She's still winning but I tell ya, these boys don't give up no matter how much she fleeeces them!)
Anyway, Malawi Gin was the name of the section of stages from Iringa, Tanzania to Lilongwe, Malawi, all 1124kms. Chris won the section by 15 minutes after a superb effort over the hilly stage out of Chitimba Beach. We had a rest day in Chitimba Beach which is on the shores of Lake Malawi. Beautiful, white sandy beach, lake front camping, palm trees, little bungalows, a bit like Fiji...nothing to do. We didn't have internet connections and no shops so all we could do was sleep, eat and swim. It was an amazing rest day and everybody felt great for it. The stage started with a 15km easy ride along the shores of Lake Malawi and then at 14km there was a sharp right hand bend that went straight up this hill. We were told the night before that we would climb 1000 meters and then drop 2500 meters to a town called Mzuzu. The first climb was 25 km up! The Billy goat part of Chris's personality came out of it's wrappings and crucified the rest of the racers. He took a 15 minute chunk of time out of Adrie in the hill climb and as one of the other racer boys said..'Chris was on fire'. They did not catch him and so consequently he rode 120 kms by himself.
At the end of the stage he gratefully inhaled a home made fruit cake that Alice from Joberg's mother had made for him and sent via Patrick's brother Andre from Cape Town. Is that confusing? Basically we met Alice's parents Sue and Dave when they joined us in Nairobi and we got to know them as they also came on safari with us when we did Serengeti...AMAZING..saw the big five and Ngorongoro Crater Safari - also amazing..saw cheetahs again. While on safari Chris got talking with Sue and next thing you know he has negotiated a fruit cake..she is a babe of a woman and I love it as it means that I don't have to bake it!! She rocks. Patricks brother came to visit at Chitimba Beach and he had all sorts of goodies from fruit cakes to spare wheels to a conglomeration of bike bits!! He rode one stage with us and it was the hilly one. He did well to do that on his first day..it was tough!
Anyway, Chris is a happy boy to win a section and is looking forward to more hills in the Zambesi Zone section. We start off flat and long, 159km, 195km, and then on day three hills start again as we go trough one of the two gorges before we get to Lusaka.
As for me..I'll be happy with the flat roads as my wrist is still not quite right. I took the cast off after the three rest days in Arusha and then rehabbed it while the off road sections of Tanzania were taking place. There was lots of rain and mud and we decided that it would be crazy for me to ride those roads with a freshly healed wrist. I stayed in the truck and enjoyed the experieinces of seeing Doris truck getting stuck, digging it out, moving 200m in 5 hours and hanging out with the locals. Once we got to Iringa and we were back on tarseal/tarmac I raced the first stage and won it. It felt so good to be back on the bike I tell you it was heaven. I was so excited to be back on the bike after 5 weeks that there was no holding me back. The next day my wrist hurt like hell and I realised that I had better ease into the racing and so took it easy for the rest of the stages hence you not seeing my name in the stage wins after day one.I still have trouble holding on to the hoods and climbing as the wrist is stiff and feels like concrete. So the hilly sections are a problem but the flat sections are great as I have put my aerobars on...thanks to Richard in Encinitas who has been our saving grace and sending us things from out of our garage. Without his help I would not be riding as the aerobars make all the difference. Anyway, we ride for the Zambia border in the morning and hopefully I'll be able to race the section...fingers and toes crossed people.
We are off to clean bikes and get a load of food for the next section and so hopefully you are all well.
Love ya
Friday, March 9, 2007
African Safari - The Big Four not Five!
Hi there,
I'm back in Nairobi after almost two weeks of rest and recovery of the said right arm which is still prisoner of the ever present semi white cast!! It is now embellished with a new collection of signatures ranging from Felix the concierge of the hotel who loves me, to concerned medicals who are visiting from Europe and have stopped to ask how and where,to a variety of street vendors who tried to coerce me into their shops by saying they wanted to sign my cast but would I please go with them as they had forgotten their pens. Wouldn't you know it..'the pen' always lived in a little curio stall laden down and bursting at the seams with African masks, wooden giraffes again, beautiful fabric from Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya, you name it they had it even out in the Mara. Everything that I did not need. Can you imagine Chris's face if I turned up with a huge African Maasai wall hanging, a door mat and a giant mask. He would surely hit the roof!! It would be a laugh though. The funniest new signature was obtained from 'Lawrence of Kenya' who saw my cast through the window of his Range Rover while passing our minibus while on Safari in a particularly 'hairy and rocky' part of the track in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve Park. The drivers all know each other and there was a cousin sitting in the back of Lawrence's 4x4, Lawrence was driving at break neck speed to go and check one of his camps he owns in the Mara and so you couldn't miss his rally driver entry and we have no idea how our driver knew that the cousin was in the back. Anyway, our driver Leonard did the customary stop which was more of a lurch to a halt, on a precarious and rather jaunty angle with all of us passengers in the van sitting with a left lean. This put me on the high side of the van and while Leonard enquired as to the health of various family members, Lawrence in the drivers seat spied the cast and saw it as a good opportunity to sign. Of course he couldn't find a pen and there was a minor traffic hold up while he searched for one but hey it's Kenyan time and the other vans had to wait. Plus the Range Rover was bigger and so ruled the road. So all in all.....the cast is intact and... I'm also loved by Lawrence of Kenya!!
As for my African Safari experience....it was a blast. Unfortunately as the title of this posts reads..it was the Big Four- Elephants, Buffalo, Rhino (black and white)and Lions. Spotting (no pun intended) a leopard escaped us! There were enough trees at Lake Nakuru Game park the same colour as a leopard that we knew without a doubt that a leopard was surely camouflaged and sitting there looking at the tourists from high above.
I did a five day Safari, 3 days in the Maasai Mara Reserve and 2 days in Lake Nakuru. The Mara is unbelievably huge and expanse and everything that you thought a game park would be. We were lucky that on our first game drive early in the morning we came across a female cheetah. That was really special and we spent a long time just watching her observe the Thompson Gazelles in the distance...her breakfast. She was so beautiful, elegant and more graceful than I thought possible. I took some really good photos as well as a video of her cleaning andn preening herself in the early morning African sunrise. Very cool. We didn't get to see her catch a gazelle but I heard from some other people that arrived after us that they were there in time to see her..well not see her..just see the flash of movement and blurr of yellow, black, white and golden yellow..in mere seconds.. of her dart and veer to the side and in a blink of an eye she had pounced and caught the gazelle.
We also had a family of Elephants and Giraffes surround our van and were not at all aggressive..we didn't bother them..we all remained quiet and just watched and made sure that none of the cameras flashed light. Herds of buffalo were still in the Mara but apparently not in their usual thousands as most had migrated to Tanzania. By the end of my time in the Mara the poor Buffalo and Thompson Gazelle had been relegated to 'yeah seen them, let's look for a lion' category. Terrible really but they are plentiful compared to the lions who are the same colour as the golden grass and with the numbers of buffalo lower the grass doesn't get eaten and stays long at least to my waist height and so the lions can stay camouflaged. On Day two we did see a family of 10 lions - male and female and cubs - take down a gazelle and demolish everything bar the horns. Females caught it, males sat and watched and then ate first..what's with that?, females ate next, male cubs ate next and baby cubs got the scraps. They were funny to watch fighting over the bones. We also saw two lots of male lions sleeping under a tree virtually on the side of the road in the blazing sun and also were lucky to see two lioness's walking on the road in front of us with three baby cubs. They were really tiny and even Leonard said that that was an unusual sight. It is low season in the Mara and so not many tour vans and the animals know this and so are more inclined to wander out onto the roads.
I decided to do a camping safari rather than a lodge as I wanted to be closer to the action, meaning deeper inside the Mara. I was thinking tent and sleeping in my sleeping bag, the kind of camping style that we have been doing since our start of the ride with Tour d'Afrique. Camping safari in Kenya, meant I slept in a bed with sheets, inside a tent erected inside a banda, which is a thatched roof little hut with solid walls. I had electricity and hot showers and so now the question is...how on earth am I going to be able to go back to the Tour d'Afrique style of camping? I can see tears on the horizon!
The Maasai tribe apparently gave the land that the Reserve is on to the Kenyan government in exchange for 19% of the gate take which turns out to be about $8-9 dollars per person who enters.I'm not too sure how the money is used but they certainly have a thriving industry inside the park. They don't like you to take photos of them working with their animals when you see them on the side of the road and Leonard said that if the young boys see cameras they will throw rocks at the holder of the camera and the van. He said that they were highly skilled and always got their target and so it was best not to risk it. OK, so here is a potentially politically incorrect moment and I apologise in advance to any I may offend with my thoughts but you do have to wonder at the sincerity of it all. The reason why we couldn't take photos was because when you got into the park it was expected of us to do a traditional tour of the Maasai village and pay them for the photo opts. Minimums were set at 100 Kenyan shilling per photo of one person and the price could go higher depending of the number in the group. I found it particularly funny that as one group was being shown the wonders of traditional cooking on a charcoal grill, inside a little banda with mud floor, with the perfect photo opt of older woman, young mother and one child sitting on the floor, that the Maasai tour guide resplendently dressed in full red Maasai cloth and beautiful bling on his head, arms and around his neck, that his conversation was interrupted by his cell phone ringing with his personal popular tune. Apparently he reached under his red cloth, took the call and without a hitch closed the cell phone and continued his tour guiding as if nothing had just happened. I don't think he saw the irony of the moment. I'm glad that they have access to modern technology and I'm sure some still live like they are showing but there are also alot who now live in Norak which is the closest village to the Game Reserve gates. I also wondered and asked the question which was not answered directly..how come at 4-5pm every evening as the tour vans are travelling back to their respective camps that the Maasai boys are fully decked out in their red cloths AND bling to take the cows home yet the rest of the day they are bling-less? I got some half cocked answer but I figured it out myself..it ain't hard..it boils down to the tourist dollar and everybody including the Maasai can, will and do exploit it. I just hope that they don't sell out and that they are able to co-exist and maintain their cultural identity and that tourists see the Maasai as proud African warriors.The departing vision of tribal women at the gates of the Mara Reserve Park pushing and peddling their beautiful beads and crafts, which really are unique and exquisite but shoving them in the windows of the vans, into your face and lap is not at all endearing.Someone needs to show them the soft sell!
Anyway, my next stop was Lake Nakuru. It is an absolutely breath taking park and I found the Game reserve spectacular and well worth it. They call it small compared to the Mara but it is still big. We did a 6 hour game drive and although we saw all the animals you could see inclding the endangered white and black rhino we still could have spent more time as we didn't get around the entire park. The Lake itself is a soda lake and it has thousands of flamingos and so from the moment you enter the park all you can see is a band of hot pink edging around an emerald oasis. Truely breath taking. Add in some elephants, lions, giraffes, baboons, zebra, rhinos, buffalos, gazelles, dik diks - the smallest member of the antelope family, monkeys and a whole variety of birds..it make for a special place. The park differs from the Mara in the fact that the trees at Lake Nakuru are taller and more lush. The Lake is lined with Arcacia trees and the typical flat African tree which I can't remember the name of and so the bird life is plentiful. It is also surrounded by high rocky outcrops and at the highest point is Baboon Rock. It is an amazing viewpoint of the Lake and park which is awesome. Not only can you see the entire emerald green lake glistening in the sun, with the circle of hot pink flamingos but you can also see the whitish soda plain with the black buffalo, black and white striped zebra and the black and barely the white rhino just wandering around minding their own business against the background of the green trees and grassy edge of the lake all topped with a cloudless blue sky. It is certainly an amazing picture which is firmly etched in my head. I tired to take photos and video to capture it but although my camera is good..nothing can capture it as a photo just doesn't do it justice. I'll have to wait until National Geographic or Discovery Chanel do a documentary. You'll all just have to come and see for yourself!!!
While I've been on Safari, it appears that Chris has had his own little adventure in Northern Kenya. Read the blog on the www.tourdafrique.com website and you'll read that they have had hot - Sudan temperatures again of 46 degrees celsius, long - 4-5 hours for the racers mean 8-10 hours in the saddle for the expedition riders, dusty -sand and grit and dust mixed with sweat makes for a nice mud cake similar to the ones that some of us made as kids..only difference being that we had water to wash our hands at the end. If it's that hot where they are then water will be rationed and it will be bush showers. That means Johnson baby wipes inside the tent or by now just standing by the tent and if you're lucky left over water from your camel pack. It sounds like the racers may have even stopped for a coke stop which is unheard of but a sign of how hot the heat must of been. I see Chris tomorrow and so I'll make sure to quizz him on Northern Kenya and get back to you. I also heard from other travellers that pot holes in Northern Kenya sometimes were 6 feet wide and 6 inches deep. Hmmmmm makes the sand of Sudan quite appealing.
Even though I've had a blast on Safari..I'd have given anything to be there racing side by side with Chris. Let's not think about that..hope you are all well..time togo and walk fast around Nairobi.
Later alligator..didn't see one of them but I did se a crocodile!!
Love ya
I'm back in Nairobi after almost two weeks of rest and recovery of the said right arm which is still prisoner of the ever present semi white cast!! It is now embellished with a new collection of signatures ranging from Felix the concierge of the hotel who loves me, to concerned medicals who are visiting from Europe and have stopped to ask how and where,to a variety of street vendors who tried to coerce me into their shops by saying they wanted to sign my cast but would I please go with them as they had forgotten their pens. Wouldn't you know it..'the pen' always lived in a little curio stall laden down and bursting at the seams with African masks, wooden giraffes again, beautiful fabric from Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya, you name it they had it even out in the Mara. Everything that I did not need. Can you imagine Chris's face if I turned up with a huge African Maasai wall hanging, a door mat and a giant mask. He would surely hit the roof!! It would be a laugh though. The funniest new signature was obtained from 'Lawrence of Kenya' who saw my cast through the window of his Range Rover while passing our minibus while on Safari in a particularly 'hairy and rocky' part of the track in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve Park. The drivers all know each other and there was a cousin sitting in the back of Lawrence's 4x4, Lawrence was driving at break neck speed to go and check one of his camps he owns in the Mara and so you couldn't miss his rally driver entry and we have no idea how our driver knew that the cousin was in the back. Anyway, our driver Leonard did the customary stop which was more of a lurch to a halt, on a precarious and rather jaunty angle with all of us passengers in the van sitting with a left lean. This put me on the high side of the van and while Leonard enquired as to the health of various family members, Lawrence in the drivers seat spied the cast and saw it as a good opportunity to sign. Of course he couldn't find a pen and there was a minor traffic hold up while he searched for one but hey it's Kenyan time and the other vans had to wait. Plus the Range Rover was bigger and so ruled the road. So all in all.....the cast is intact and... I'm also loved by Lawrence of Kenya!!
As for my African Safari experience....it was a blast. Unfortunately as the title of this posts reads..it was the Big Four- Elephants, Buffalo, Rhino (black and white)and Lions. Spotting (no pun intended) a leopard escaped us! There were enough trees at Lake Nakuru Game park the same colour as a leopard that we knew without a doubt that a leopard was surely camouflaged and sitting there looking at the tourists from high above.
I did a five day Safari, 3 days in the Maasai Mara Reserve and 2 days in Lake Nakuru. The Mara is unbelievably huge and expanse and everything that you thought a game park would be. We were lucky that on our first game drive early in the morning we came across a female cheetah. That was really special and we spent a long time just watching her observe the Thompson Gazelles in the distance...her breakfast. She was so beautiful, elegant and more graceful than I thought possible. I took some really good photos as well as a video of her cleaning andn preening herself in the early morning African sunrise. Very cool. We didn't get to see her catch a gazelle but I heard from some other people that arrived after us that they were there in time to see her..well not see her..just see the flash of movement and blurr of yellow, black, white and golden yellow..in mere seconds.. of her dart and veer to the side and in a blink of an eye she had pounced and caught the gazelle.
We also had a family of Elephants and Giraffes surround our van and were not at all aggressive..we didn't bother them..we all remained quiet and just watched and made sure that none of the cameras flashed light. Herds of buffalo were still in the Mara but apparently not in their usual thousands as most had migrated to Tanzania. By the end of my time in the Mara the poor Buffalo and Thompson Gazelle had been relegated to 'yeah seen them, let's look for a lion' category. Terrible really but they are plentiful compared to the lions who are the same colour as the golden grass and with the numbers of buffalo lower the grass doesn't get eaten and stays long at least to my waist height and so the lions can stay camouflaged. On Day two we did see a family of 10 lions - male and female and cubs - take down a gazelle and demolish everything bar the horns. Females caught it, males sat and watched and then ate first..what's with that?, females ate next, male cubs ate next and baby cubs got the scraps. They were funny to watch fighting over the bones. We also saw two lots of male lions sleeping under a tree virtually on the side of the road in the blazing sun and also were lucky to see two lioness's walking on the road in front of us with three baby cubs. They were really tiny and even Leonard said that that was an unusual sight. It is low season in the Mara and so not many tour vans and the animals know this and so are more inclined to wander out onto the roads.
I decided to do a camping safari rather than a lodge as I wanted to be closer to the action, meaning deeper inside the Mara. I was thinking tent and sleeping in my sleeping bag, the kind of camping style that we have been doing since our start of the ride with Tour d'Afrique. Camping safari in Kenya, meant I slept in a bed with sheets, inside a tent erected inside a banda, which is a thatched roof little hut with solid walls. I had electricity and hot showers and so now the question is...how on earth am I going to be able to go back to the Tour d'Afrique style of camping? I can see tears on the horizon!
The Maasai tribe apparently gave the land that the Reserve is on to the Kenyan government in exchange for 19% of the gate take which turns out to be about $8-9 dollars per person who enters.I'm not too sure how the money is used but they certainly have a thriving industry inside the park. They don't like you to take photos of them working with their animals when you see them on the side of the road and Leonard said that if the young boys see cameras they will throw rocks at the holder of the camera and the van. He said that they were highly skilled and always got their target and so it was best not to risk it. OK, so here is a potentially politically incorrect moment and I apologise in advance to any I may offend with my thoughts but you do have to wonder at the sincerity of it all. The reason why we couldn't take photos was because when you got into the park it was expected of us to do a traditional tour of the Maasai village and pay them for the photo opts. Minimums were set at 100 Kenyan shilling per photo of one person and the price could go higher depending of the number in the group. I found it particularly funny that as one group was being shown the wonders of traditional cooking on a charcoal grill, inside a little banda with mud floor, with the perfect photo opt of older woman, young mother and one child sitting on the floor, that the Maasai tour guide resplendently dressed in full red Maasai cloth and beautiful bling on his head, arms and around his neck, that his conversation was interrupted by his cell phone ringing with his personal popular tune. Apparently he reached under his red cloth, took the call and without a hitch closed the cell phone and continued his tour guiding as if nothing had just happened. I don't think he saw the irony of the moment. I'm glad that they have access to modern technology and I'm sure some still live like they are showing but there are also alot who now live in Norak which is the closest village to the Game Reserve gates. I also wondered and asked the question which was not answered directly..how come at 4-5pm every evening as the tour vans are travelling back to their respective camps that the Maasai boys are fully decked out in their red cloths AND bling to take the cows home yet the rest of the day they are bling-less? I got some half cocked answer but I figured it out myself..it ain't hard..it boils down to the tourist dollar and everybody including the Maasai can, will and do exploit it. I just hope that they don't sell out and that they are able to co-exist and maintain their cultural identity and that tourists see the Maasai as proud African warriors.The departing vision of tribal women at the gates of the Mara Reserve Park pushing and peddling their beautiful beads and crafts, which really are unique and exquisite but shoving them in the windows of the vans, into your face and lap is not at all endearing.Someone needs to show them the soft sell!
Anyway, my next stop was Lake Nakuru. It is an absolutely breath taking park and I found the Game reserve spectacular and well worth it. They call it small compared to the Mara but it is still big. We did a 6 hour game drive and although we saw all the animals you could see inclding the endangered white and black rhino we still could have spent more time as we didn't get around the entire park. The Lake itself is a soda lake and it has thousands of flamingos and so from the moment you enter the park all you can see is a band of hot pink edging around an emerald oasis. Truely breath taking. Add in some elephants, lions, giraffes, baboons, zebra, rhinos, buffalos, gazelles, dik diks - the smallest member of the antelope family, monkeys and a whole variety of birds..it make for a special place. The park differs from the Mara in the fact that the trees at Lake Nakuru are taller and more lush. The Lake is lined with Arcacia trees and the typical flat African tree which I can't remember the name of and so the bird life is plentiful. It is also surrounded by high rocky outcrops and at the highest point is Baboon Rock. It is an amazing viewpoint of the Lake and park which is awesome. Not only can you see the entire emerald green lake glistening in the sun, with the circle of hot pink flamingos but you can also see the whitish soda plain with the black buffalo, black and white striped zebra and the black and barely the white rhino just wandering around minding their own business against the background of the green trees and grassy edge of the lake all topped with a cloudless blue sky. It is certainly an amazing picture which is firmly etched in my head. I tired to take photos and video to capture it but although my camera is good..nothing can capture it as a photo just doesn't do it justice. I'll have to wait until National Geographic or Discovery Chanel do a documentary. You'll all just have to come and see for yourself!!!
While I've been on Safari, it appears that Chris has had his own little adventure in Northern Kenya. Read the blog on the www.tourdafrique.com website and you'll read that they have had hot - Sudan temperatures again of 46 degrees celsius, long - 4-5 hours for the racers mean 8-10 hours in the saddle for the expedition riders, dusty -sand and grit and dust mixed with sweat makes for a nice mud cake similar to the ones that some of us made as kids..only difference being that we had water to wash our hands at the end. If it's that hot where they are then water will be rationed and it will be bush showers. That means Johnson baby wipes inside the tent or by now just standing by the tent and if you're lucky left over water from your camel pack. It sounds like the racers may have even stopped for a coke stop which is unheard of but a sign of how hot the heat must of been. I see Chris tomorrow and so I'll make sure to quizz him on Northern Kenya and get back to you. I also heard from other travellers that pot holes in Northern Kenya sometimes were 6 feet wide and 6 inches deep. Hmmmmm makes the sand of Sudan quite appealing.
Even though I've had a blast on Safari..I'd have given anything to be there racing side by side with Chris. Let's not think about that..hope you are all well..time togo and walk fast around Nairobi.
Later alligator..didn't see one of them but I did se a crocodile!!
Love ya
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Jambo Kenya!
Jambo is the Kenyan word for Hello...so Jambo everybody!
Have had a great day in Nairobi - looking around,drinking freshly squeezed mango juice, enjoying the hot and humid weather and generally just swanning about. Checked my email this morning,walked through Uhuru Park which is full of trees and massive in size. One of the people I spoke to in the park said it covered 50 acres. Not too sure how accurate he was but I tell you it's bloody big!!
I also went around the market stalls - how many wooden giraffes and Kenyan Kangas does one need? Having said that I was pleased that I had already been in Egypt, the land of persistent hassling by stall owners wanting you to buy their wares because when it came to say no to the Kenyan stall owners - it was easy. I got out of this huge market with only purchasing two Masai bracelets..that's good for me!!
Chris had a rest day yesterday in Yabello, southern Ethiopia and so he probably spent the day eating, cleaning his bike and maybe doing some washing. They race towards the Kenyan/Ethiopian border today from the desert camp in Yabello and will arrive in Moyale tomorrow. Moyale means the start of rubbish roads, the terrain changes to 'damn nasty roads, big rocks, potholes, lava' and in the words of Jack our race leader..'one of the toughest days in the entire tour will be in the next three days'. Ohh la la.......I'm sure there will be a few frustrating moments from some of the riders and maybe it will mean that the racers just ride. We'll have to wait and see.Personally, I can't see it happening..they're there to race. Eva will be able to just ride it but I doubt if the boys do.
I'm off to the Masai Mara area to do a safari in the morning and will be back Sunday to update the blog then off to Lamu. I hear California has rain...what's with that?
Hope you can all find your raincoats!!
Love ya
Have had a great day in Nairobi - looking around,drinking freshly squeezed mango juice, enjoying the hot and humid weather and generally just swanning about. Checked my email this morning,walked through Uhuru Park which is full of trees and massive in size. One of the people I spoke to in the park said it covered 50 acres. Not too sure how accurate he was but I tell you it's bloody big!!
I also went around the market stalls - how many wooden giraffes and Kenyan Kangas does one need? Having said that I was pleased that I had already been in Egypt, the land of persistent hassling by stall owners wanting you to buy their wares because when it came to say no to the Kenyan stall owners - it was easy. I got out of this huge market with only purchasing two Masai bracelets..that's good for me!!
Chris had a rest day yesterday in Yabello, southern Ethiopia and so he probably spent the day eating, cleaning his bike and maybe doing some washing. They race towards the Kenyan/Ethiopian border today from the desert camp in Yabello and will arrive in Moyale tomorrow. Moyale means the start of rubbish roads, the terrain changes to 'damn nasty roads, big rocks, potholes, lava' and in the words of Jack our race leader..'one of the toughest days in the entire tour will be in the next three days'. Ohh la la.......I'm sure there will be a few frustrating moments from some of the riders and maybe it will mean that the racers just ride. We'll have to wait and see.Personally, I can't see it happening..they're there to race. Eva will be able to just ride it but I doubt if the boys do.
I'm off to the Masai Mara area to do a safari in the morning and will be back Sunday to update the blog then off to Lamu. I hear California has rain...what's with that?
Hope you can all find your raincoats!!
Love ya
Monday, February 26, 2007
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
Hi to family and friends,
Thanks for all the emails of encouragement, good wishes, concern and sympathy for my wrist injury ---(am I really so transparently competitive that you've needed to tell me not to cut the cast off?......hmm would you believe me if I said it had not crossed my mind ...I guess not! To be honest every hour of the day it pops into my head - especially now that Chris is not around to keep me on the straight and narrow path!!) OK, OK I can hear your exasperated sigh....no I won't cut the cast off - although it is a pain especially while trying to email with only an index finger on my right hand AND while trying to shampoo my golden locks with my left hand and trying to keep the right arm held high and out of the water!! The things a girl has to try and negotiate all in the aim of keeping clean!!!
Anyway..where am I? As the post title says 'every cloud has a silver lining'. If my right arm wasn't in a cast I wouldn't be here in Addis Ababa writing this email, hanging out with Kidist Getachew in the Wabe Shebelle Hotel drinking cups of tea and experiencing Ethiopia in the way that I am now. I have met her father who lives in a town 2 hours away called Nazareth (he popped in to say hello to her yesterday) and he like all fathers is concerned that his baby girl is living in the city by herself. He has reason to be concerned as Kidist is a very beautiful Ethiopian woman who looks like she has stepped out of a Vogue magazine - no makeup, yet breath takingly gorgeous. However, she is cool, modern and very together, full of vitality, vivacious and working in the internet office for hotel guests as a means to support her studying which she does at night (after work)for her IT degree.
Anyway,to back track I got the cast put on last Wednesday Feb 21st here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was told that it had to stay on for 4 weeks. That evening Chris started vomiting and had a bad stomach and was up all night and into the early morning getting rid of what ever bug he had picked up.It was obvious at 6.00am that there was no way he would be riding south with the group. He had really bad abdominal cramps and it wasn't until 1.00pm on Thursday that he could stand upright without his abdominal wall going into spasm. So, knowing that I could not ride and that Chris needed to get food inside him and recover we organised a driver and a car to take us south to Lake Langano which we knew the group would be at in two days time. It was a good move.
Lake Langano is a bird watchers paradise, secluded and private and nothing to do but read a book, swim (for Chris)and sleep. The hotel we stayed at was completely surrounded by trees, huge plumeria trees in full blossom which smelt gorgeous (which remided me of you Miss Holli - all I could see was your wedding ring) and so the birds flocked to the trees. Vibrant yellows, irridescent blues and greens, red breasted things, funky large black and white birds with these long beaks walking along the sandy shores of the lake..amazing! Lake Langano has so much mineral content in the lake that it is reddish in colour but still clean.
Our room was a little one bedroom cabin( #9) and the first thing we saw when we opened the door was the double bed completely covered with a huge mosquito net. Just as well. The minute the sun went down they were on attack. Big and ferocious looking mosquitos eager for blood. As you would guess, namely mine. The damn things landed on Chris, took one sniff and opted out..he's not sweet enough. As for me, they descended on any exposed skin, ears included and had a field day!! I looked like a mummy to start and now six days later I can still count all the bite marks. I had Neem insect repellant and they still had a feast.Thank god for malarone anti-malaria tablets that hopefully will do their job and protect.
So, on Friday we were hanging out at Lake Langano wondering where the group would be camping and low and behold I spot Pierre our French Canadian rider in his yellow cycling jersey riding his bike past the cabin. I asked where he had come from and he pointed behind him. There in the trees at the end of the beach was Betsy and Doris the African Routes support trucks!! As luck would have it, we had all ended up at the same hotel/camp site. Brilliant coincidence. It was good to see everybody and after many hugs and hellos my clean cast quickly lost it's pristine, virginal whiteness when Vimpey from African Routes..driver of Doris and all round good guy..who was doing maintenance engine work under the truck got up and placed his oily paw on the cast and to this day I have his fingerprints!! Darrel from South Africa joined in and continued the cverage of my cast when he wrote- 'two months to do the other one, bon chance Wratty xxxx'- his sense of humour really is unique and he's lots of fun, George a honey from Holland wrote 'Janet fan', Eva also from Holland wrote 'Heal sister! 'cause I need you with the boys' which was really lovely. She is the only woman still racing and it will be good once my wrist heals and we can be back racing each other. We were laughing together about how hard it is to keep up with the top four - Chris and Adrie, Gunther and Eric. We can hang with them for about 30 - 45 minutes if they are doing tempo pace but once they decide to attack or a huge hill comes up it's usually Chris or Gunther to go off the front and now the pace just escalates. You tend to hang on as long as you can and breath out your back side but you know it is inevitable that they are going to drop you. Some of the days that Eva and I have managed to get good times, close to the top four is because they have decide to take it easy or there is a massive tail wind or we just killed ourselves trying to stay with them. It's also fun racing the tandem. They are strong on the flats but slow (understandably) on the hills of Ethiopia and so we can get away in the climbs and just kill ourselves to stay ahead in the straight home. Can you tell I miss it already!! When I look back it amazes me how I still managed to ride with my wrist for 20 days and still win the stages. Now that the cast is on and the constant pain has gone..yes Suzi..I can hear you...I realise I shouldn't have ignored it..stubborn huh!
Anyway, enough of that. Saturday 24th was day one for me in the truck watching the riders, knowing that there was no way I could ride as I could not hold the handle bar with my cast. You know I tried! The othopod built up the plaster on the lateral side of my right hand and to the mid line of my palm. This bridge prevents me from getting my fingers around the hoods and doesn't provide enough room for me to move the shifters!! He had my number didn't he!! So after day one, in the truck, watching the riders, watching Chris's sprint finish to Ardrie..it was was a close loss of 4 inches for Chris but he sent a message to Ardrie that he's getting better on those tight finishes....watching did my head in! I put a brave face on for all the group but when I was with Chris in the afternoon I just lost it. I was upset and so at Chris's suggestion he said to just leave the group, go somewhere for 15 days, chill, heal and not be there watching them all race and to join back up with them in Nairobi. The roads in Northern Kenya are rough, desolate and known to have bandits and not a place for a woman to hitch a ride I back tracked to Addis. Sunday my side adventure in Africa started.
I caught a mini bus from Dilla, a southern Ethiopian town with a guy who was going to Shasamene 200km away. Talk about 'silver lining'. I had a blast. In the South of Ethiopia the main crop is Chad which is similar to Peru's coca. It is a legal stimulant which only grows south of Sashamene which is the Rastafarian stronghold of Ethiopia and the place where Bob Marley hung out, Haille Sellassie came from and so a good market for chad. When we went through Shasamene on Saturday on the truck, we stopped at a gas station to get water and it just happened to be next to the Rasta Tabernacle. I jumped out and within seconds my cast caught the young Rastas attention and I was promptly offered weed/hootch/dac as the best option to heal my wrist. It was classic. Had me in fits of laughter. They all had the rasta cloths and hats and were intrigued that we were there. When Chris went past with the racers, he was in the front of the group and saw me on the side of the road surrounded by Rastas and he yelled out 'stay off the weed'. As you can imagine this caused an uproar and they loved it. It also renewed the offers for me to buy a stash from them. Nels from Canada is a huge Bob Marley fan and was riding with a Bob Marley tshirt over his cycling cloths. He was on the back end of Chris's group and so when the young Rastas saw his tshirt they went beserk. When I told them that I had seen Bob Marley in concert in Auckland in the early 80's that was it...instant street cred..not that I needed it but they left me alone and stopped trying to sell me weed.
So Shasamene is true Rasta. The driver of the minibus stopped at many small villages between Dila and Shasamene and picked up Chad. Huge bundles that he put on the roof. He told me that the large bundles could get as much as 800-900 Birr whcih is about $100 US dollars..a lot of money in Ethiopian standards especially for the villages. They cultivate it in the south as there is lots of water and rainfall. As you move south from Lake Langano the terain changes to savannah, them to volcanic masses and then luxuriant greenery, banana trees, pineapple trees of the Rift Valley. It's beautiful to see and if it wasn't for the maniac kids lining the sides of the streets with sticks and rocks it would be a blast to ride. We all said that Ethiopia would be better if the Ethiopian children had the Sudanese manner and persona.
So as we were getting closer to Shasamene we had to stop at a weighing station where all the chad came off, got weighed, official men wrote down the weight, money
changed hands, invoices given and the chad was put back on the minivan. Apparently we were leaving one area and a tax had to be paid. When we got to Shasamene the chad was delivered to some back street and I caught a local bus to Addis.
The local bus cost 33Birr - divide that by 8 - so $4 US dollars to travel another 200km. I luckily had a seat and the bus was supposed to have 25 people. It was Sunday which meant that the traffic contollers would not be working and so they jammed 12 more pople in. They were standing, sitting on little wooden stools in the middle of the aisle, up the front on the floor..it was a real laugh. After a 4.5 hour bus ride I arrived in Addis and came to the Wabe Shebelle Hotel.
So..where to go, what to do? I thought about flying to Madagascar but found out that there is a Tropical Cyclone about to hit the island so decided not to go plus I would have had to fly to Joberg and go from there for a cost of $2,000US plus...crazy money. I also thought of going to Lalibella in Northern Ethiopia to see the underground monastery and churches but there were no flights until the 2nd of March. So, today I fly to Nairobi, Kenya and will stay in a hotel and try and organise a 4-5 day safari trip as well as go to Lamu Island, a beach resort off the coast of Kenya. In the early 80's I met a Brit called Bernie on a beach in Bali and he was cycling around the world. I rode with him through parts of Java and we kept in contact for years after as he wrote a book about his cycling adventures. He sent me a postcard saying that he had fell in love with a place called Lamu and what was supposed to be a short break turned in to a long stay of several months. Since then I have always wondered what the magic of Lamu was as he seemed so hell bent on completing the adventure and getting it done. So..I will find out and tell you all things going well. Yesterday, I got to see the Addis I didn't see while I was going to clinics and it's a cool place.
I have to go out to the airport as my flight leaves in a couple of hours. I hope this solves the mystery of why my name is not on the stage winner list anymore and I will get Rachel to take a photo of the cast to prove to those concerned that it is still firmly fixed on my arm..Michelle!
Hello to our clients, hope Richard and Michelle are keeping you fired up..(we know they are). I did think about flying back to the states to work with my cast but that was in a moment of weakness and it lasted all of a couple of seconds. I slapped myself to make sure it didn't enter my head again..you guys are in good hands.
Once again, thanks for all the emails, it's been great to receive them and we appreciate how much we are loved by you all.You guys rock! Be well, take care..do you think my hotel in Nairobi has a spa? I'll do some research for you Charlotte....my sister in New Zealand is GM of a fabulous-to-be-spa at Waiwera, a thermal hot springs resort in Auckland. I'll collect some brochures........
Love ya
Team Maund - racing in Southern Ethiopia heading for Northern Kenya...Team Alexander swanning in Africa...healing injury
Thanks for all the emails of encouragement, good wishes, concern and sympathy for my wrist injury ---(am I really so transparently competitive that you've needed to tell me not to cut the cast off?......hmm would you believe me if I said it had not crossed my mind ...I guess not! To be honest every hour of the day it pops into my head - especially now that Chris is not around to keep me on the straight and narrow path!!) OK, OK I can hear your exasperated sigh....no I won't cut the cast off - although it is a pain especially while trying to email with only an index finger on my right hand AND while trying to shampoo my golden locks with my left hand and trying to keep the right arm held high and out of the water!! The things a girl has to try and negotiate all in the aim of keeping clean!!!
Anyway..where am I? As the post title says 'every cloud has a silver lining'. If my right arm wasn't in a cast I wouldn't be here in Addis Ababa writing this email, hanging out with Kidist Getachew in the Wabe Shebelle Hotel drinking cups of tea and experiencing Ethiopia in the way that I am now. I have met her father who lives in a town 2 hours away called Nazareth (he popped in to say hello to her yesterday) and he like all fathers is concerned that his baby girl is living in the city by herself. He has reason to be concerned as Kidist is a very beautiful Ethiopian woman who looks like she has stepped out of a Vogue magazine - no makeup, yet breath takingly gorgeous. However, she is cool, modern and very together, full of vitality, vivacious and working in the internet office for hotel guests as a means to support her studying which she does at night (after work)for her IT degree.
Anyway,to back track I got the cast put on last Wednesday Feb 21st here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was told that it had to stay on for 4 weeks. That evening Chris started vomiting and had a bad stomach and was up all night and into the early morning getting rid of what ever bug he had picked up.It was obvious at 6.00am that there was no way he would be riding south with the group. He had really bad abdominal cramps and it wasn't until 1.00pm on Thursday that he could stand upright without his abdominal wall going into spasm. So, knowing that I could not ride and that Chris needed to get food inside him and recover we organised a driver and a car to take us south to Lake Langano which we knew the group would be at in two days time. It was a good move.
Lake Langano is a bird watchers paradise, secluded and private and nothing to do but read a book, swim (for Chris)and sleep. The hotel we stayed at was completely surrounded by trees, huge plumeria trees in full blossom which smelt gorgeous (which remided me of you Miss Holli - all I could see was your wedding ring) and so the birds flocked to the trees. Vibrant yellows, irridescent blues and greens, red breasted things, funky large black and white birds with these long beaks walking along the sandy shores of the lake..amazing! Lake Langano has so much mineral content in the lake that it is reddish in colour but still clean.
Our room was a little one bedroom cabin( #9) and the first thing we saw when we opened the door was the double bed completely covered with a huge mosquito net. Just as well. The minute the sun went down they were on attack. Big and ferocious looking mosquitos eager for blood. As you would guess, namely mine. The damn things landed on Chris, took one sniff and opted out..he's not sweet enough. As for me, they descended on any exposed skin, ears included and had a field day!! I looked like a mummy to start and now six days later I can still count all the bite marks. I had Neem insect repellant and they still had a feast.Thank god for malarone anti-malaria tablets that hopefully will do their job and protect.
So, on Friday we were hanging out at Lake Langano wondering where the group would be camping and low and behold I spot Pierre our French Canadian rider in his yellow cycling jersey riding his bike past the cabin. I asked where he had come from and he pointed behind him. There in the trees at the end of the beach was Betsy and Doris the African Routes support trucks!! As luck would have it, we had all ended up at the same hotel/camp site. Brilliant coincidence. It was good to see everybody and after many hugs and hellos my clean cast quickly lost it's pristine, virginal whiteness when Vimpey from African Routes..driver of Doris and all round good guy..who was doing maintenance engine work under the truck got up and placed his oily paw on the cast and to this day I have his fingerprints!! Darrel from South Africa joined in and continued the cverage of my cast when he wrote- 'two months to do the other one, bon chance Wratty xxxx'- his sense of humour really is unique and he's lots of fun, George a honey from Holland wrote 'Janet fan', Eva also from Holland wrote 'Heal sister! 'cause I need you with the boys' which was really lovely. She is the only woman still racing and it will be good once my wrist heals and we can be back racing each other. We were laughing together about how hard it is to keep up with the top four - Chris and Adrie, Gunther and Eric. We can hang with them for about 30 - 45 minutes if they are doing tempo pace but once they decide to attack or a huge hill comes up it's usually Chris or Gunther to go off the front and now the pace just escalates. You tend to hang on as long as you can and breath out your back side but you know it is inevitable that they are going to drop you. Some of the days that Eva and I have managed to get good times, close to the top four is because they have decide to take it easy or there is a massive tail wind or we just killed ourselves trying to stay with them. It's also fun racing the tandem. They are strong on the flats but slow (understandably) on the hills of Ethiopia and so we can get away in the climbs and just kill ourselves to stay ahead in the straight home. Can you tell I miss it already!! When I look back it amazes me how I still managed to ride with my wrist for 20 days and still win the stages. Now that the cast is on and the constant pain has gone..yes Suzi..I can hear you...I realise I shouldn't have ignored it..stubborn huh!
Anyway, enough of that. Saturday 24th was day one for me in the truck watching the riders, knowing that there was no way I could ride as I could not hold the handle bar with my cast. You know I tried! The othopod built up the plaster on the lateral side of my right hand and to the mid line of my palm. This bridge prevents me from getting my fingers around the hoods and doesn't provide enough room for me to move the shifters!! He had my number didn't he!! So after day one, in the truck, watching the riders, watching Chris's sprint finish to Ardrie..it was was a close loss of 4 inches for Chris but he sent a message to Ardrie that he's getting better on those tight finishes....watching did my head in! I put a brave face on for all the group but when I was with Chris in the afternoon I just lost it. I was upset and so at Chris's suggestion he said to just leave the group, go somewhere for 15 days, chill, heal and not be there watching them all race and to join back up with them in Nairobi. The roads in Northern Kenya are rough, desolate and known to have bandits and not a place for a woman to hitch a ride I back tracked to Addis. Sunday my side adventure in Africa started.
I caught a mini bus from Dilla, a southern Ethiopian town with a guy who was going to Shasamene 200km away. Talk about 'silver lining'. I had a blast. In the South of Ethiopia the main crop is Chad which is similar to Peru's coca. It is a legal stimulant which only grows south of Sashamene which is the Rastafarian stronghold of Ethiopia and the place where Bob Marley hung out, Haille Sellassie came from and so a good market for chad. When we went through Shasamene on Saturday on the truck, we stopped at a gas station to get water and it just happened to be next to the Rasta Tabernacle. I jumped out and within seconds my cast caught the young Rastas attention and I was promptly offered weed/hootch/dac as the best option to heal my wrist. It was classic. Had me in fits of laughter. They all had the rasta cloths and hats and were intrigued that we were there. When Chris went past with the racers, he was in the front of the group and saw me on the side of the road surrounded by Rastas and he yelled out 'stay off the weed'. As you can imagine this caused an uproar and they loved it. It also renewed the offers for me to buy a stash from them. Nels from Canada is a huge Bob Marley fan and was riding with a Bob Marley tshirt over his cycling cloths. He was on the back end of Chris's group and so when the young Rastas saw his tshirt they went beserk. When I told them that I had seen Bob Marley in concert in Auckland in the early 80's that was it...instant street cred..not that I needed it but they left me alone and stopped trying to sell me weed.
So Shasamene is true Rasta. The driver of the minibus stopped at many small villages between Dila and Shasamene and picked up Chad. Huge bundles that he put on the roof. He told me that the large bundles could get as much as 800-900 Birr whcih is about $100 US dollars..a lot of money in Ethiopian standards especially for the villages. They cultivate it in the south as there is lots of water and rainfall. As you move south from Lake Langano the terain changes to savannah, them to volcanic masses and then luxuriant greenery, banana trees, pineapple trees of the Rift Valley. It's beautiful to see and if it wasn't for the maniac kids lining the sides of the streets with sticks and rocks it would be a blast to ride. We all said that Ethiopia would be better if the Ethiopian children had the Sudanese manner and persona.
So as we were getting closer to Shasamene we had to stop at a weighing station where all the chad came off, got weighed, official men wrote down the weight, money
changed hands, invoices given and the chad was put back on the minivan. Apparently we were leaving one area and a tax had to be paid. When we got to Shasamene the chad was delivered to some back street and I caught a local bus to Addis.
The local bus cost 33Birr - divide that by 8 - so $4 US dollars to travel another 200km. I luckily had a seat and the bus was supposed to have 25 people. It was Sunday which meant that the traffic contollers would not be working and so they jammed 12 more pople in. They were standing, sitting on little wooden stools in the middle of the aisle, up the front on the floor..it was a real laugh. After a 4.5 hour bus ride I arrived in Addis and came to the Wabe Shebelle Hotel.
So..where to go, what to do? I thought about flying to Madagascar but found out that there is a Tropical Cyclone about to hit the island so decided not to go plus I would have had to fly to Joberg and go from there for a cost of $2,000US plus...crazy money. I also thought of going to Lalibella in Northern Ethiopia to see the underground monastery and churches but there were no flights until the 2nd of March. So, today I fly to Nairobi, Kenya and will stay in a hotel and try and organise a 4-5 day safari trip as well as go to Lamu Island, a beach resort off the coast of Kenya. In the early 80's I met a Brit called Bernie on a beach in Bali and he was cycling around the world. I rode with him through parts of Java and we kept in contact for years after as he wrote a book about his cycling adventures. He sent me a postcard saying that he had fell in love with a place called Lamu and what was supposed to be a short break turned in to a long stay of several months. Since then I have always wondered what the magic of Lamu was as he seemed so hell bent on completing the adventure and getting it done. So..I will find out and tell you all things going well. Yesterday, I got to see the Addis I didn't see while I was going to clinics and it's a cool place.
I have to go out to the airport as my flight leaves in a couple of hours. I hope this solves the mystery of why my name is not on the stage winner list anymore and I will get Rachel to take a photo of the cast to prove to those concerned that it is still firmly fixed on my arm..Michelle!
Hello to our clients, hope Richard and Michelle are keeping you fired up..(we know they are). I did think about flying back to the states to work with my cast but that was in a moment of weakness and it lasted all of a couple of seconds. I slapped myself to make sure it didn't enter my head again..you guys are in good hands.
Once again, thanks for all the emails, it's been great to receive them and we appreciate how much we are loved by you all.You guys rock! Be well, take care..do you think my hotel in Nairobi has a spa? I'll do some research for you Charlotte....my sister in New Zealand is GM of a fabulous-to-be-spa at Waiwera, a thermal hot springs resort in Auckland. I'll collect some brochures........
Love ya
Team Maund - racing in Southern Ethiopia heading for Northern Kenya...Team Alexander swanning in Africa...healing injury
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Calling Miss Suzi - the girl is injured..race over!
OK......to friends and family and chekkies in New Zealand,I need to find Miss Suzi. I know she was teaching level three in the States some time back BUT she needs to be here, with me in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!! It's all about me honey!!! Suzi .. I need your expertise in moving bones...I am injured!!! I need your miracle hands and I was wondering if you could pop over to do a spot of treatment. How about it? We can get you and the boy a room at the Sheraton Addis, combine it with an little altitude training, there's a nice bar by the pool for you both to hang out at, nice shops, restaurants...cute shoes..etc etc. Need a break from NZ..come to Ethiopia!! It would be such fun..you don't need to ride...............
Seriously, my race is all but over. I found out yesterday that my sprained wrist is more than sprained! My injury and fall in Dongolar, Sudan 3 weeks ago wasn't a sprain but a hair line fracture of the distal end of the ulna and a massive separation of all the bones in the wrist and after an Xray and consulation with a orthopod bone specialist, who just happened to be in Addis this week..I get to have a plaster cast put on this afternoon!! The descent down the Blue Nile Gorge re-injured, aggravated my wrist and so with the 1300m drop in height and 18km of shitty, rough, off road, rocky, pothole, gravel..get the picture..nasty roads my hand was numb and full of pins and needles and I could not hold on to the handle bars of my bike.
I tried to ride for about 20 minutes in the uphill time trial, but it just got worse. I had to get on the bucky..one of the support trucks and so got an automatic 12 hour penalty added to my time. I tried to ride the next day but couldn't and so my race is all but over. To answer all the emails asking why I wasn't winning all the stages here's why. Of the last 11 stages of the section from Khartoum to Addis Ababa I raced five days and won the stages on those days but I did not race six days,I was sitting on my butt with not a happy face, in the truck--three days due to vomitting and stomach issues and three due to my wrist, so consequently the section win went to Eva..stage wins being 6 to Eva, 5 to me. From now on I will only be riding the tarmac days and on the off road days in Northern Kenya I will be in the truck..which means I will get 12 hour penalties for all of those days BUT my wrist will heal and in the words on the orthpod 'you will not have permanent damage and it will not become chronic'. I have to have my wrist in a plaster cast for three weeks so sorry to the fan club for not being able to stick it to the metal!!!
On the other hand Chris the dish had a superb uphill time trial!!! The bonus of being in the support truck was watching Chris just nail the hill. 23km of up hill 1300m climb off road. You should have seen that billy goat go. He clearly won it in 1 hour and 39 minutes which is an amazing time...(although Chris being Chris wanted to do it in 1 hour and 30 minutes) and he was two minutes ahead of the second person which was Gunther. His legs were on fire on that day and it was great to watch.
Chris checked us into the swanky Sheraton Addis last night and so the bummer of having to get my wrist in plaster was buffered by the fabulous room, the big bath with hot, hot water and the large glass of South African Pinotage that I consumed to drown my sorrows!! I have to go and get this damn plaster..I'll get back to you later.Trust you are all well. Ethiopia is an amazing country and we will defintely be coming back to visit ti again.
Love ya.
Seriously, my race is all but over. I found out yesterday that my sprained wrist is more than sprained! My injury and fall in Dongolar, Sudan 3 weeks ago wasn't a sprain but a hair line fracture of the distal end of the ulna and a massive separation of all the bones in the wrist and after an Xray and consulation with a orthopod bone specialist, who just happened to be in Addis this week..I get to have a plaster cast put on this afternoon!! The descent down the Blue Nile Gorge re-injured, aggravated my wrist and so with the 1300m drop in height and 18km of shitty, rough, off road, rocky, pothole, gravel..get the picture..nasty roads my hand was numb and full of pins and needles and I could not hold on to the handle bars of my bike.
I tried to ride for about 20 minutes in the uphill time trial, but it just got worse. I had to get on the bucky..one of the support trucks and so got an automatic 12 hour penalty added to my time. I tried to ride the next day but couldn't and so my race is all but over. To answer all the emails asking why I wasn't winning all the stages here's why. Of the last 11 stages of the section from Khartoum to Addis Ababa I raced five days and won the stages on those days but I did not race six days,I was sitting on my butt with not a happy face, in the truck--three days due to vomitting and stomach issues and three due to my wrist, so consequently the section win went to Eva..stage wins being 6 to Eva, 5 to me. From now on I will only be riding the tarmac days and on the off road days in Northern Kenya I will be in the truck..which means I will get 12 hour penalties for all of those days BUT my wrist will heal and in the words on the orthpod 'you will not have permanent damage and it will not become chronic'. I have to have my wrist in a plaster cast for three weeks so sorry to the fan club for not being able to stick it to the metal!!!
On the other hand Chris the dish had a superb uphill time trial!!! The bonus of being in the support truck was watching Chris just nail the hill. 23km of up hill 1300m climb off road. You should have seen that billy goat go. He clearly won it in 1 hour and 39 minutes which is an amazing time...(although Chris being Chris wanted to do it in 1 hour and 30 minutes) and he was two minutes ahead of the second person which was Gunther. His legs were on fire on that day and it was great to watch.
Chris checked us into the swanky Sheraton Addis last night and so the bummer of having to get my wrist in plaster was buffered by the fabulous room, the big bath with hot, hot water and the large glass of South African Pinotage that I consumed to drown my sorrows!! I have to go and get this damn plaster..I'll get back to you later.Trust you are all well. Ethiopia is an amazing country and we will defintely be coming back to visit ti again.
Love ya.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentines Day from Africa
Hi there,
Forgot to wish you all Happy Valentines Day. We have a fancy dress party tonight where we are supposed to be dressed in something starting with 'P'. I could be a princess but have decided to leave that one for Chris and I'll probably go as a Prada girl. Have the hand bag Sue and Michelle so that will have to be it!!!
I'll try and get another post up in the morning. We head for Addis Ababa day after next and it is going to be a tough 6 day section as we have an uphill 23km off road time trial in the Blue Nile Gorge. At least we have a hotel booked in Addis and so I can be guaranteed of a bath at the end of it all. Small pleasures.
Happy Valentines my lovelies!!!
Forgot to wish you all Happy Valentines Day. We have a fancy dress party tonight where we are supposed to be dressed in something starting with 'P'. I could be a princess but have decided to leave that one for Chris and I'll probably go as a Prada girl. Have the hand bag Sue and Michelle so that will have to be it!!!
I'll try and get another post up in the morning. We head for Addis Ababa day after next and it is going to be a tough 6 day section as we have an uphill 23km off road time trial in the Blue Nile Gorge. At least we have a hotel booked in Addis and so I can be guaranteed of a bath at the end of it all. Small pleasures.
Happy Valentines my lovelies!!!
Close the gap - No, I'm going to vomit!!!
Hello to family and friends,
Hope you are all well. Chris and I are both recovering and the past two days have been good for Team Alexander/Maund. I won both of the last two stages, rolling hills and nice climbs in Northern Ethiopia so the billy goat legs were pulled out for the ride. Chris had a great race yesterday and won the stage by 5 minutes...mountain goat Maund on display, today he got away on the climbs but it came down to a sprint finish as the last 5 kms were downhill and flat. The last part of the road was not so stable a road surface plus we had to go through a small market type area so add a couple of straying cows, goats, people on bikes and taxi vans stopping for passengers with the drivers watching two guys scream past at race pace so Chris was pipped at the finish for the stage win although he was given the same time.We are now in a lake town called Bahar Dar on the edge of Lake Tana which is the source of the Blue Nile. We have opted to stay in a hotel which is great for the soul, shower, bed, restaurant food...already had griled chicken for lunch and so we are clean, well fed and happy!!!!!
I guess you have all been wondering where we have been and why we havent posted a blog since Feb 4! Two reasons....one being the title of this post and two, not being able to get an internet connection in Gondar, Ethiopia where we had two well deserved rest days.
So, after our good hotel stay in Khartoum, Sudan we headed to the border town of Metema. First day out of Khartoum I had a good race and won the stage. Everything was going well. The Sudanese Cycling Federation provided lunch and we were camped in an old amusement park. They were also supposed to give us dinner but their idea of food wasn't appropriate fro a bunch of riders who had jusat ridden 150km in 45 degrees celcius weather. Pastries and milk!!! Ahhhhhhhh...no! We all decided to go into this l;ittle village and see what we could find to eat at about 8.00pm. Bad move on my part. I ate a falafel whcih seemed ok at the time BUT next morning 20km into the ride, I was struggling. I was falling off the back and Chris who was behind me yelled out to me to close the gap as I was going to lose the front group. He didn't know that at that precise moment I was having abdominal cramps from hell, felt weak and then....I knew I was going to be sick. I yelled out to him, "No, I'm going to vomit". His timing was perfect, he passed me on my left just as I turned my head to the right and produced a projectile missile!!! So....did I keep on riding and show my stubborn side? or did I act sensibly and quit. Thankfully, a German guy who had just finished cycling in Egypt and Sudan pulled up in a van and asked one of the TDA riders called Markus if everything was OK. Obviously I was in bits and so I hitched a ride to the lunch truck with him. Nurse Elaine from Canada gave me some anti - be sick pills and I spent the rest of the day asleep under the lunch truck in a world of sickness and delerium! I didn't ride the next day and consequently got two 12 hour penalties. I didn't really care about the penalty, all I wanted was the two way trafffic of food to stop....ended up coming out both ends, lost a bit of weight but thankfully the two days rest in Gondar allowed recovery. The third day after the sickness I rode but didn't race as it was the day of the ride to the border of Sudan and Ethiopia which was another 45 degrees celcius day.
The border of Sudan and Ethiopia will always be memorable. You get your Sudanese exit stamp in one building, walk across a bridge and go to a purple shack to get your Ethiopian entry visa. The chidren of Ethiopia are so excited to see you that they work themselves into a frenzy and we have been warned to watch out for stick and rock throwing as they get so excited!!! At our camp site we had hoards of kids just hanging out and watching us. I guess we must look like a right freak show!!
Our first day of riding in Ethioia was a non race day as we had to get used to the off roads again. It was a long day and my wrist suffered horribly. It swelled up and so I was not able to ride from the desert camp to Gondar. Just as well. I was on one of the support vechiles and we had stopped at one of the small villages to get water when a large two trailer truck pulls up. I saw a race number on a bike on top of the truck and then realised that it was Chris's number. It was his turn to be sick and had no energy. Being stubborn as he is, he said that he would ride on Doris, our big bumpy truck. I jumped on with him and less than 5 minutes ..guess who was being sick out the window and had to buy beers for Vimpey the driver as a penalty for the mess!!! YOu guessed it Christopher. Once we got to Gondar, we got a hotel room and to bed he went. His bug was 24 hours and the two rest days allowed for us to let our system settle. I think the whoe group has had some sort of bug to date so fingers crossed that this is the end of it.
I have to go and eat again.
Be well.
Love ya
Hope you are all well. Chris and I are both recovering and the past two days have been good for Team Alexander/Maund. I won both of the last two stages, rolling hills and nice climbs in Northern Ethiopia so the billy goat legs were pulled out for the ride. Chris had a great race yesterday and won the stage by 5 minutes...mountain goat Maund on display, today he got away on the climbs but it came down to a sprint finish as the last 5 kms were downhill and flat. The last part of the road was not so stable a road surface plus we had to go through a small market type area so add a couple of straying cows, goats, people on bikes and taxi vans stopping for passengers with the drivers watching two guys scream past at race pace so Chris was pipped at the finish for the stage win although he was given the same time.We are now in a lake town called Bahar Dar on the edge of Lake Tana which is the source of the Blue Nile. We have opted to stay in a hotel which is great for the soul, shower, bed, restaurant food...already had griled chicken for lunch and so we are clean, well fed and happy!!!!!
I guess you have all been wondering where we have been and why we havent posted a blog since Feb 4! Two reasons....one being the title of this post and two, not being able to get an internet connection in Gondar, Ethiopia where we had two well deserved rest days.
So, after our good hotel stay in Khartoum, Sudan we headed to the border town of Metema. First day out of Khartoum I had a good race and won the stage. Everything was going well. The Sudanese Cycling Federation provided lunch and we were camped in an old amusement park. They were also supposed to give us dinner but their idea of food wasn't appropriate fro a bunch of riders who had jusat ridden 150km in 45 degrees celcius weather. Pastries and milk!!! Ahhhhhhhh...no! We all decided to go into this l;ittle village and see what we could find to eat at about 8.00pm. Bad move on my part. I ate a falafel whcih seemed ok at the time BUT next morning 20km into the ride, I was struggling. I was falling off the back and Chris who was behind me yelled out to me to close the gap as I was going to lose the front group. He didn't know that at that precise moment I was having abdominal cramps from hell, felt weak and then....I knew I was going to be sick. I yelled out to him, "No, I'm going to vomit". His timing was perfect, he passed me on my left just as I turned my head to the right and produced a projectile missile!!! So....did I keep on riding and show my stubborn side? or did I act sensibly and quit. Thankfully, a German guy who had just finished cycling in Egypt and Sudan pulled up in a van and asked one of the TDA riders called Markus if everything was OK. Obviously I was in bits and so I hitched a ride to the lunch truck with him. Nurse Elaine from Canada gave me some anti - be sick pills and I spent the rest of the day asleep under the lunch truck in a world of sickness and delerium! I didn't ride the next day and consequently got two 12 hour penalties. I didn't really care about the penalty, all I wanted was the two way trafffic of food to stop....ended up coming out both ends, lost a bit of weight but thankfully the two days rest in Gondar allowed recovery. The third day after the sickness I rode but didn't race as it was the day of the ride to the border of Sudan and Ethiopia which was another 45 degrees celcius day.
The border of Sudan and Ethiopia will always be memorable. You get your Sudanese exit stamp in one building, walk across a bridge and go to a purple shack to get your Ethiopian entry visa. The chidren of Ethiopia are so excited to see you that they work themselves into a frenzy and we have been warned to watch out for stick and rock throwing as they get so excited!!! At our camp site we had hoards of kids just hanging out and watching us. I guess we must look like a right freak show!!
Our first day of riding in Ethioia was a non race day as we had to get used to the off roads again. It was a long day and my wrist suffered horribly. It swelled up and so I was not able to ride from the desert camp to Gondar. Just as well. I was on one of the support vechiles and we had stopped at one of the small villages to get water when a large two trailer truck pulls up. I saw a race number on a bike on top of the truck and then realised that it was Chris's number. It was his turn to be sick and had no energy. Being stubborn as he is, he said that he would ride on Doris, our big bumpy truck. I jumped on with him and less than 5 minutes ..guess who was being sick out the window and had to buy beers for Vimpey the driver as a penalty for the mess!!! YOu guessed it Christopher. Once we got to Gondar, we got a hotel room and to bed he went. His bug was 24 hours and the two rest days allowed for us to let our system settle. I think the whoe group has had some sort of bug to date so fingers crossed that this is the end of it.
I have to go and eat again.
Be well.
Love ya
Sunday, February 4, 2007
US Friends
Hey,
Just realised that it is Superbowl Sunday in the States and so have a great day and a great party day if you are doing the BBQ thing. Miss Holli I'm sure you will be doing the Superbowl Party thing with Tim. Hope you all have a good time. Sudan is alcohol free and so have a glass of wine for us. Our Tour Leader is from San Diego and so the two of us were trying to figure out how we could find out who wins. The game doesn't start until 4.00am our time and so we're not going to be able to hit an internet cafe..they open at 7.00am and we start racing in the morning so it's a no go. Anyway, have fun.
Cheers
Team Alexander/Maund
Just realised that it is Superbowl Sunday in the States and so have a great day and a great party day if you are doing the BBQ thing. Miss Holli I'm sure you will be doing the Superbowl Party thing with Tim. Hope you all have a good time. Sudan is alcohol free and so have a glass of wine for us. Our Tour Leader is from San Diego and so the two of us were trying to figure out how we could find out who wins. The game doesn't start until 4.00am our time and so we're not going to be able to hit an internet cafe..they open at 7.00am and we start racing in the morning so it's a no go. Anyway, have fun.
Cheers
Team Alexander/Maund
Rest Day in Khartoum
Hi there,
I tell ya there is something sweet about sleeping on a good bed after a couple of weeks of sleeping on a thermarest mattress, in a tent in the desert!! We both slept well and when the Imans started their call to prayer chants at six am we were already awake and ready to go. My day started as it finished last night with another bath and then a huge breakfast. Chris and I then went to the local supermarket and stocked up on protein - tins of fish and beef as the protein provided by the tour is pretty non existant at breakfast (oats, porridge, bread and jam and now that we are in Sudan only one egg breakfast so far). Lunch is ok and our dinners are amazing but we need food to start the day. So for Chris and I who usually have to eat a cow for breakfast when doing as much exercise as we currently are, it means that on our rest day we forage and stock up on protein in any form that we can find it. Today we found salted cashews, a variety of cheeses, fish, beef and so two happy campers!!!!
With that task out of the way, we then went to the National Museum of Sudan which was way cool. They have three buildings which look like small airplane hangers in the grounds and each one has a reconstructed temple taken from the land under what is now Lake Nasr, dating back to 1550-1295BC. Unbelievable stuff. What is bizarre is that on these most amazing historic and archeologically rare hunks of stone, not only are there hieroglyphics and covered with paintings of Egyptian gods but there's also graffiti from the 1800's carved into the stone. Barstards!!!! You can even walk up to the temples and stangely enough are able to touch them which to me is quite odd. Surely if eveybody touches them, they'll gradually disintegrate or am I too used to living in the states where everything has to be locked down otherwise it will get lifted!! Inside the museum itself there were artifacts dating back 5,000 years. The ancient jewelry was a blast to see and I must admit I had a small princess moment when I saw all the armlets and gold headgear. Not as practical as a bike helmet which I'm in more need of right now.
After the Museum we checked out where the Blue and the White Nile converge at the White Nile bridge. The White Nile isn't actually white but instead a shitty grey colour but the Blue Nile is so blue in comparision that it makes the White Nile look less grey! Does that make sense? We couldn't take photos as there were police around and you have to have a permit to take photos in the more populated parts of Sudan, so you'll have to take my word for it.
After another huge lunch...(stocking up the calories in preparation of a six day stage which starts tomorrow) we both sorted out our 'red boxes'. The tour has a system where everybody has a red box and a permanent bag. The red boxes go inside 'Doris truck' and in it we place all the things that we will need for each stage which can be anywhere from 5 to 7 days. In it you'll find things like the tent, a sleeping bag, thermarest, clothes for riding, casual clothes when not riding, toilet bag,first aid kit etc and spare bike bits that we may need during the stage. In the permanent bag is all the other stuff that we may need for later countries like rain gear for Malawi or cold weather gear for South Africa or jeans that we wore on the plane from LA and definitely don't need in this hot weather. These bags go on top of Doris under a tarp and you can only access them on the rest days. Hence today we had to sort out what we needed for this section and what could be put back in the permanent bag. Once that was done we then went to the Blue Nile Sailing Camp where all the other riders were to clean our bikes and change our tires. The next four days are on asphalt so we don't need the thicker tires we had for the last stage.
We get to the Sudanese/Ethiopian border on the 8th of February and will be in Gondar, Ethiopia on February 10th. We have two rest days there on February 11 and 12 and so I'll be hitting the internet cafe to post another blog. It's 9.30pm here and time to hit the hay as we have a 166km ride in the morning. Part of it will be in convoy which is a general pain in the ass as we have to go so slow due to the police escort up front. Lots of stopping and starting and fluffing around. When we came into Khartoum on Saturday we had to ride in convoy after the police and it took hours. We got to ride past the Royal Palace which is an impressive building but I almost got taken out by a Ministry of Interiors Landcruiser as the driver was getting impatient with all the 40+ people on bikes in front of him, hogging the road and slowing him down that he tried to side swipe across us into his driveway. Unfortunately I was the closet one to him but a lucky escape.
Chris and I are both sitting here in the reception of Hotel Acropole at the internet computers doing the blog and checking email and you wouldn't believe what they are handing out. Small pots of homemade icecream!!Chris is on to number two..they are delicious....we're getting spoilt...what will we do in the desert camp tomorrow night? Which reminds me at one of our desert camps early in Sudan we were all sitting around after dinner watching the sunset..which by the way are absolutely stunning..and we saw a yoghurt/icecream truck go past. We all yelled out to him and cheered and to our surprise he not only stopped but also turned around and came back and gave us three pots of yoghurt.I guess it's not your usual sight to see 40+ people camping in the desert, in the middle of nowhere with bikes strewn on the ground. Anyway, we all bought yoghurt from the driver and he was off on his merry way. Small delight for a bunch of cyclists!!!A couple of days later on a non race day from a desert camp to Dongolar, (a killer 100 km ride which took 10 hours including the Nubian Desert crossing and a Nile ferry crossing in 42 degrees celcius and lots of sand) we were pretty much over riding a bike when the same truck with the same driver went past us. He recognised us, stopped and sold us cold, fresh milk and gave us chocolate. He was on his way back to Khartoum and he had delivered most of his products. I tell ya we all near kissed him when he stopped. He made our day!!Not only did we stop him but so did Chris and his group stop him as he got further up the road.
Ok this time I really am going to sign off. Tales of Aswan and the ferry crossing will have to wait until Ethiopia. Have no fear I am writing a daily journal and so I will not forget to fill you all in when we get to Gondar.
Love ya all,
Janet and Chris
I tell ya there is something sweet about sleeping on a good bed after a couple of weeks of sleeping on a thermarest mattress, in a tent in the desert!! We both slept well and when the Imans started their call to prayer chants at six am we were already awake and ready to go. My day started as it finished last night with another bath and then a huge breakfast. Chris and I then went to the local supermarket and stocked up on protein - tins of fish and beef as the protein provided by the tour is pretty non existant at breakfast (oats, porridge, bread and jam and now that we are in Sudan only one egg breakfast so far). Lunch is ok and our dinners are amazing but we need food to start the day. So for Chris and I who usually have to eat a cow for breakfast when doing as much exercise as we currently are, it means that on our rest day we forage and stock up on protein in any form that we can find it. Today we found salted cashews, a variety of cheeses, fish, beef and so two happy campers!!!!
With that task out of the way, we then went to the National Museum of Sudan which was way cool. They have three buildings which look like small airplane hangers in the grounds and each one has a reconstructed temple taken from the land under what is now Lake Nasr, dating back to 1550-1295BC. Unbelievable stuff. What is bizarre is that on these most amazing historic and archeologically rare hunks of stone, not only are there hieroglyphics and covered with paintings of Egyptian gods but there's also graffiti from the 1800's carved into the stone. Barstards!!!! You can even walk up to the temples and stangely enough are able to touch them which to me is quite odd. Surely if eveybody touches them, they'll gradually disintegrate or am I too used to living in the states where everything has to be locked down otherwise it will get lifted!! Inside the museum itself there were artifacts dating back 5,000 years. The ancient jewelry was a blast to see and I must admit I had a small princess moment when I saw all the armlets and gold headgear. Not as practical as a bike helmet which I'm in more need of right now.
After the Museum we checked out where the Blue and the White Nile converge at the White Nile bridge. The White Nile isn't actually white but instead a shitty grey colour but the Blue Nile is so blue in comparision that it makes the White Nile look less grey! Does that make sense? We couldn't take photos as there were police around and you have to have a permit to take photos in the more populated parts of Sudan, so you'll have to take my word for it.
After another huge lunch...(stocking up the calories in preparation of a six day stage which starts tomorrow) we both sorted out our 'red boxes'. The tour has a system where everybody has a red box and a permanent bag. The red boxes go inside 'Doris truck' and in it we place all the things that we will need for each stage which can be anywhere from 5 to 7 days. In it you'll find things like the tent, a sleeping bag, thermarest, clothes for riding, casual clothes when not riding, toilet bag,first aid kit etc and spare bike bits that we may need during the stage. In the permanent bag is all the other stuff that we may need for later countries like rain gear for Malawi or cold weather gear for South Africa or jeans that we wore on the plane from LA and definitely don't need in this hot weather. These bags go on top of Doris under a tarp and you can only access them on the rest days. Hence today we had to sort out what we needed for this section and what could be put back in the permanent bag. Once that was done we then went to the Blue Nile Sailing Camp where all the other riders were to clean our bikes and change our tires. The next four days are on asphalt so we don't need the thicker tires we had for the last stage.
We get to the Sudanese/Ethiopian border on the 8th of February and will be in Gondar, Ethiopia on February 10th. We have two rest days there on February 11 and 12 and so I'll be hitting the internet cafe to post another blog. It's 9.30pm here and time to hit the hay as we have a 166km ride in the morning. Part of it will be in convoy which is a general pain in the ass as we have to go so slow due to the police escort up front. Lots of stopping and starting and fluffing around. When we came into Khartoum on Saturday we had to ride in convoy after the police and it took hours. We got to ride past the Royal Palace which is an impressive building but I almost got taken out by a Ministry of Interiors Landcruiser as the driver was getting impatient with all the 40+ people on bikes in front of him, hogging the road and slowing him down that he tried to side swipe across us into his driveway. Unfortunately I was the closet one to him but a lucky escape.
Chris and I are both sitting here in the reception of Hotel Acropole at the internet computers doing the blog and checking email and you wouldn't believe what they are handing out. Small pots of homemade icecream!!Chris is on to number two..they are delicious....we're getting spoilt...what will we do in the desert camp tomorrow night? Which reminds me at one of our desert camps early in Sudan we were all sitting around after dinner watching the sunset..which by the way are absolutely stunning..and we saw a yoghurt/icecream truck go past. We all yelled out to him and cheered and to our surprise he not only stopped but also turned around and came back and gave us three pots of yoghurt.I guess it's not your usual sight to see 40+ people camping in the desert, in the middle of nowhere with bikes strewn on the ground. Anyway, we all bought yoghurt from the driver and he was off on his merry way. Small delight for a bunch of cyclists!!!A couple of days later on a non race day from a desert camp to Dongolar, (a killer 100 km ride which took 10 hours including the Nubian Desert crossing and a Nile ferry crossing in 42 degrees celcius and lots of sand) we were pretty much over riding a bike when the same truck with the same driver went past us. He recognised us, stopped and sold us cold, fresh milk and gave us chocolate. He was on his way back to Khartoum and he had delivered most of his products. I tell ya we all near kissed him when he stopped. He made our day!!Not only did we stop him but so did Chris and his group stop him as he got further up the road.
Ok this time I really am going to sign off. Tales of Aswan and the ferry crossing will have to wait until Ethiopia. Have no fear I am writing a daily journal and so I will not forget to fill you all in when we get to Gondar.
Love ya all,
Janet and Chris
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Bath Time in Khartoum, Sudan
Hello family and friends!!
We are in Khartoum, Sudan having checked into a hotel and have had two baths and four showers to remove the dust, sand and dirt of 10 days riding in the Sudan. All our fellow riders are at the Blue Nile Yatch Club camping by the Nile but Chris and I decided to do the hotel thing. Bed and a bath for sure!!!! We have crossed the Nubian Desert and have just done part of the Sahara Desert. Check out the photos on Tourdafrique.com and see what we have ridden through!!!! Sand, sand and more sand with a bit of rock thrown in for good measure! Our sunblock is great stuff from Australia, it stays on the skin, blocks out the burning rays from the sun BUT it also holds the sand and dirt and so we both look like we have great tans. If you had have seen the bath and the bath water today you would have realised it was not tan..just dirt!!! I tell you......small pleasures so far are :
1. Water
2. Hot water
3. A bath tub
4. Going to the toilet and doing number twos without needing a shovel!
5. Toilet paper
6. Asphalt to ride on and coke stops!! Can you believe it..coke stops for the health fanatics. After riding in 44.7 degrees celcius, a bottle of coke is like a lightening bolt to the system!! Who would have thought we would be drinking that stuff. (Clients..it does not mean you can!!!)
Anyway, the Cairo to Khartoum Section finished today, almost 2,000km down, 10,000km to go! I was the overall female winner of the first section which is called 'Pharoah's Delight' having won all bar two of the stages. If you've been following the race results you would have seen that one of the stages didn't have a female winner. That's because I was the only female racing that day and I had to stop at the lunch truck and get on Doris as I have a sprained wrist. I didn't want to do it but my hand was numb and so I figured that I had better give it up rather than face permanent damage of my hand. By getting on the truck you also incur a 12 hour penalty so I was not happy!!! You can tell that I must have been in pain ..being slightly competitive and all that!!! So how did I sprain my hand you ask? I wish I could say that it was a flying crash in the sand in Sudan but alas no. It was more simple than that. Last Sunday Chris and Tom from the US were getting a traditional shave with a blade etc in a small town called Dongolar while I tried to find an internet cafe. It was our rest day and we had spent all day cleaning our bikes and doing laundry etc and I was tired. It was dark and the dirt road was wet and slippery and I tripped and fell. My rubber crocs sent me flying (not a fashion shoe so what was I thinking wearing them!) anyway when I broke my fall it was with a right wrist!!! So, I tried to ride Monday. The first 50km of the stage was on asphalt and I was ok riding with one hand but the next 10km before the lunch truck was off road and brutal! Every bump, every judderbar just killed and so I had to stop.
Next day I rode and was OK as it was predominantly asphalt and hard packed dirt but the day after that I had to stop 15km before the end as my hand was numb again. Eva ended up winning the stage but I figured it wasn't worth damaging my hand just in order to win another stage. I was behind Eva by 6 minutes in that stage so it wasn't too bad. When I got to camp Chris mobilised my nerves and did some soft tissue work and iced it and that seemed to get feeling back in my hand. Next day I was pissed so rode hard and won the stage as the 130km was all asphalt. It's easier to ride one handed on asphalt than on the off road stuff. Chris also won the stage that day so Team Alexander-Maund did well. This morning we had a time trial and I came in second to Eva, back 1 minute 15 seconds. I didn't have any aerobars and had a slide in the sandy 1.5km off road section and lost momentum. I duct taped my wrist so that I could ride on the drops and I'm paying for it now!!! Our aerobars are in transit somewhere and hopefully will get to Addis so we can use them in the next time trial. Chris made a pair of aerobars out of two steel tent pegs and a towel. It looked odd but it worked. He was only 25 seconds behind Ardrie and came in second. We have a rest day tomorrow and so I'll be resting the wrist. I bought an elastic bandage this evening from a local pharmacy and it's much better when I wear it. It has to heal soon as we are heading towards the hills and mountains of Addis Abeba in Ethiopia. Addis is at 9,000 feet..yeah baby!!!
The Sudanese people are unbelievable. Very polite, generous people and have been nothing but a pleasure as we ride/race through their villages. They are amazed that we have chosen their country to ride through and you should see the kids when they see the bikes and all our bling and toys! It's a blast. They are so poor yet have such grace. A very proud people and we have enjoyed them immensely. Calls to pray wake us up at 5.20 - 6.30am and have become a normal part of our day. It's very cool!!
Update since Safaga:
I always seem to be apologising for not updating you on our travels but there seems to be a bike getting in the way. After Safaga, we did a hill stage to a desert camp, then another stage to Luxor where we had a rest day and we intended finding an internet cafe and getting on the blog BUT there were too many Egyptian Tombs to see (including Tut's) and Temples etc so we did an organised tour to ensure that we saw it all. It started at 8.00 am and didn't finish until 3.00 pm. All well worth it but after the day of sight seeing we had to then replenish the food supplies and get the calorie count up and ended up sitting on the banks of the Nile in a great fish restuarant eating like there was no tomorrow!! The thought of an internet cafe definitely went out the window when we saw the old style boats on the Nile ..a Falook ..spelling may be off and so we took a sunset cruise with an Egyptian Captain who called himself 'Captain Cook' as soon as he found out that I was from New Zealand. The boats are the old style sail boats , quiet, beautiful and a great way to see the sunset. When we finally got back to shore it was time to organise the next days cycling gear and so we didn't make it.
The next stage was Luxor to Idfu a small rural town....or so we thought between Luxor and Aswan where we were heading to catch the ferry to Sudan. We were told that the town was rural and so as females in an Islamic town not to walk the streets by ourselves and to be appropriately dressed as in no bare arms or legs. The stage was a great ride....bar the crash when Patrick from South Africa ate it at a railway crossing which was suspect to say the least. We had a police escort and we were all riding slowly in a group when the road starting turning to the left and the railway line went on an oblique angle which was hell for cycle tires. Patrick went down and I was behind him so I had to throw my bike down in order to not take out Douglas our blind rider from Kenya (who incidently is amazing!!) who was on my right side. Remy was behind me and he went down as well. I ended up with a bruise on my hip but escaped without injury! Very lucky..
Hey it is 10.25pm here in Khartoum and my eyes are rolling around in my head and I need to sleep. Internet is free in this hotel and so I will get back to you in the am. I'll tell you all about Chris and his racing, Aswan, the overnight ferry ride from Egypt to Sudan on Lake Nassar, teh ferry ride across the Nile with cars, bikes adn a donkey and also what we are about to do in the next section.
Love ya all and hope you are all well.
Stay away from coke..it rots your teeth and you should only drink it after a 170km stage ride!!
Later
Team Alexander/Maund in Africa....loving it!!
We are in Khartoum, Sudan having checked into a hotel and have had two baths and four showers to remove the dust, sand and dirt of 10 days riding in the Sudan. All our fellow riders are at the Blue Nile Yatch Club camping by the Nile but Chris and I decided to do the hotel thing. Bed and a bath for sure!!!! We have crossed the Nubian Desert and have just done part of the Sahara Desert. Check out the photos on Tourdafrique.com and see what we have ridden through!!!! Sand, sand and more sand with a bit of rock thrown in for good measure! Our sunblock is great stuff from Australia, it stays on the skin, blocks out the burning rays from the sun BUT it also holds the sand and dirt and so we both look like we have great tans. If you had have seen the bath and the bath water today you would have realised it was not tan..just dirt!!! I tell you......small pleasures so far are :
1. Water
2. Hot water
3. A bath tub
4. Going to the toilet and doing number twos without needing a shovel!
5. Toilet paper
6. Asphalt to ride on and coke stops!! Can you believe it..coke stops for the health fanatics. After riding in 44.7 degrees celcius, a bottle of coke is like a lightening bolt to the system!! Who would have thought we would be drinking that stuff. (Clients..it does not mean you can!!!)
Anyway, the Cairo to Khartoum Section finished today, almost 2,000km down, 10,000km to go! I was the overall female winner of the first section which is called 'Pharoah's Delight' having won all bar two of the stages. If you've been following the race results you would have seen that one of the stages didn't have a female winner. That's because I was the only female racing that day and I had to stop at the lunch truck and get on Doris as I have a sprained wrist. I didn't want to do it but my hand was numb and so I figured that I had better give it up rather than face permanent damage of my hand. By getting on the truck you also incur a 12 hour penalty so I was not happy!!! You can tell that I must have been in pain ..being slightly competitive and all that!!! So how did I sprain my hand you ask? I wish I could say that it was a flying crash in the sand in Sudan but alas no. It was more simple than that. Last Sunday Chris and Tom from the US were getting a traditional shave with a blade etc in a small town called Dongolar while I tried to find an internet cafe. It was our rest day and we had spent all day cleaning our bikes and doing laundry etc and I was tired. It was dark and the dirt road was wet and slippery and I tripped and fell. My rubber crocs sent me flying (not a fashion shoe so what was I thinking wearing them!) anyway when I broke my fall it was with a right wrist!!! So, I tried to ride Monday. The first 50km of the stage was on asphalt and I was ok riding with one hand but the next 10km before the lunch truck was off road and brutal! Every bump, every judderbar just killed and so I had to stop.
Next day I rode and was OK as it was predominantly asphalt and hard packed dirt but the day after that I had to stop 15km before the end as my hand was numb again. Eva ended up winning the stage but I figured it wasn't worth damaging my hand just in order to win another stage. I was behind Eva by 6 minutes in that stage so it wasn't too bad. When I got to camp Chris mobilised my nerves and did some soft tissue work and iced it and that seemed to get feeling back in my hand. Next day I was pissed so rode hard and won the stage as the 130km was all asphalt. It's easier to ride one handed on asphalt than on the off road stuff. Chris also won the stage that day so Team Alexander-Maund did well. This morning we had a time trial and I came in second to Eva, back 1 minute 15 seconds. I didn't have any aerobars and had a slide in the sandy 1.5km off road section and lost momentum. I duct taped my wrist so that I could ride on the drops and I'm paying for it now!!! Our aerobars are in transit somewhere and hopefully will get to Addis so we can use them in the next time trial. Chris made a pair of aerobars out of two steel tent pegs and a towel. It looked odd but it worked. He was only 25 seconds behind Ardrie and came in second. We have a rest day tomorrow and so I'll be resting the wrist. I bought an elastic bandage this evening from a local pharmacy and it's much better when I wear it. It has to heal soon as we are heading towards the hills and mountains of Addis Abeba in Ethiopia. Addis is at 9,000 feet..yeah baby!!!
The Sudanese people are unbelievable. Very polite, generous people and have been nothing but a pleasure as we ride/race through their villages. They are amazed that we have chosen their country to ride through and you should see the kids when they see the bikes and all our bling and toys! It's a blast. They are so poor yet have such grace. A very proud people and we have enjoyed them immensely. Calls to pray wake us up at 5.20 - 6.30am and have become a normal part of our day. It's very cool!!
Update since Safaga:
I always seem to be apologising for not updating you on our travels but there seems to be a bike getting in the way. After Safaga, we did a hill stage to a desert camp, then another stage to Luxor where we had a rest day and we intended finding an internet cafe and getting on the blog BUT there were too many Egyptian Tombs to see (including Tut's) and Temples etc so we did an organised tour to ensure that we saw it all. It started at 8.00 am and didn't finish until 3.00 pm. All well worth it but after the day of sight seeing we had to then replenish the food supplies and get the calorie count up and ended up sitting on the banks of the Nile in a great fish restuarant eating like there was no tomorrow!! The thought of an internet cafe definitely went out the window when we saw the old style boats on the Nile ..a Falook ..spelling may be off and so we took a sunset cruise with an Egyptian Captain who called himself 'Captain Cook' as soon as he found out that I was from New Zealand. The boats are the old style sail boats , quiet, beautiful and a great way to see the sunset. When we finally got back to shore it was time to organise the next days cycling gear and so we didn't make it.
The next stage was Luxor to Idfu a small rural town....or so we thought between Luxor and Aswan where we were heading to catch the ferry to Sudan. We were told that the town was rural and so as females in an Islamic town not to walk the streets by ourselves and to be appropriately dressed as in no bare arms or legs. The stage was a great ride....bar the crash when Patrick from South Africa ate it at a railway crossing which was suspect to say the least. We had a police escort and we were all riding slowly in a group when the road starting turning to the left and the railway line went on an oblique angle which was hell for cycle tires. Patrick went down and I was behind him so I had to throw my bike down in order to not take out Douglas our blind rider from Kenya (who incidently is amazing!!) who was on my right side. Remy was behind me and he went down as well. I ended up with a bruise on my hip but escaped without injury! Very lucky..
Hey it is 10.25pm here in Khartoum and my eyes are rolling around in my head and I need to sleep. Internet is free in this hotel and so I will get back to you in the am. I'll tell you all about Chris and his racing, Aswan, the overnight ferry ride from Egypt to Sudan on Lake Nassar, teh ferry ride across the Nile with cars, bikes adn a donkey and also what we are about to do in the next section.
Love ya all and hope you are all well.
Stay away from coke..it rots your teeth and you should only drink it after a 170km stage ride!!
Later
Team Alexander/Maund in Africa....loving it!!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
The Race Has Started
Hello to family and friends.
Apologies for not getting to this blog sooner but Chris and I have been busy riding our bikes from Cairo to Safaga - a coastal town on the shores of the Red Sea (South of Cairo). We have been riding the past four days. Day one was 110km ride - Cairo to a desert camp, day two was a bigger day-170km from a desert camp to a desert camp on the shores on the Red Sea, day three 140km along the shores of the Red Sea and another desert camp and today we rode with a raging tail wind...fantastic ...110km to Safaga, a coastal town on the Red Sea which is famous for deep sea diving. It is a beautiful place and we are right on the sandy shores of the Red Sea which incidently is a gorgeous shade of green and blue..not red as the name suggests. Tonight is a luxury for us as we get to stay in a hotel and have just had a hot shower. Small pleasures when you are on the road. Got off my bike this morning after a fast 110km due to the tail wind (2hrs.53mins for me, 2hrs.45mins for Chris) and booked straight in to the hotel for showers then next door for fresh calamari and fish straight out of the Red Sea. Perfect!!! I was pleased with my racing today as I managed to stay with the peleton for 2hrs 5 minutes before being dropped (hence the 8 minute difference from my time and the boys).
If you check out the official Tour d'Afrique site you will see the race results. I am proud to say that I am currently the Womens Tour Leader having won the last four stages of racing and have about a 4hour 15min lead over the next female. Chris suggested that I start racing the boys in the morning but I think I will just steadily build a bigger lead over the next week so that by the time we hit the Sudan (which apparently is diabolical as it is all sand dunes and not much else) I will have more time up my sleeve for any mishaps. Chris has also won a stage and so Team Alexander/Maund is staying healthy and doing well. He is currently sitting in second place (1 or 2 minutes behind the leader) so he is happy. Hills start in the moring so he is rearing to go as the sick puppy loves hills!!! We will be in Luxor in two days time and I will fill you in on more of what we have seen and done besides riding our bikes when we get there e.g. we have had a police escort every evening since Cairo. Anyway, we have two more desert camps until we get to a hotel in Luxor and I will get back to you then. The rest of our tour need to get on the internet and so it has to be short for now plus shops are calling.
Trust you are all well.
Love ya
Janet and Chris
Apologies for not getting to this blog sooner but Chris and I have been busy riding our bikes from Cairo to Safaga - a coastal town on the shores of the Red Sea (South of Cairo). We have been riding the past four days. Day one was 110km ride - Cairo to a desert camp, day two was a bigger day-170km from a desert camp to a desert camp on the shores on the Red Sea, day three 140km along the shores of the Red Sea and another desert camp and today we rode with a raging tail wind...fantastic ...110km to Safaga, a coastal town on the Red Sea which is famous for deep sea diving. It is a beautiful place and we are right on the sandy shores of the Red Sea which incidently is a gorgeous shade of green and blue..not red as the name suggests. Tonight is a luxury for us as we get to stay in a hotel and have just had a hot shower. Small pleasures when you are on the road. Got off my bike this morning after a fast 110km due to the tail wind (2hrs.53mins for me, 2hrs.45mins for Chris) and booked straight in to the hotel for showers then next door for fresh calamari and fish straight out of the Red Sea. Perfect!!! I was pleased with my racing today as I managed to stay with the peleton for 2hrs 5 minutes before being dropped (hence the 8 minute difference from my time and the boys).
If you check out the official Tour d'Afrique site you will see the race results. I am proud to say that I am currently the Womens Tour Leader having won the last four stages of racing and have about a 4hour 15min lead over the next female. Chris suggested that I start racing the boys in the morning but I think I will just steadily build a bigger lead over the next week so that by the time we hit the Sudan (which apparently is diabolical as it is all sand dunes and not much else) I will have more time up my sleeve for any mishaps. Chris has also won a stage and so Team Alexander/Maund is staying healthy and doing well. He is currently sitting in second place (1 or 2 minutes behind the leader) so he is happy. Hills start in the moring so he is rearing to go as the sick puppy loves hills!!! We will be in Luxor in two days time and I will fill you in on more of what we have seen and done besides riding our bikes when we get there e.g. we have had a police escort every evening since Cairo. Anyway, we have two more desert camps until we get to a hotel in Luxor and I will get back to you then. The rest of our tour need to get on the internet and so it has to be short for now plus shops are calling.
Trust you are all well.
Love ya
Janet and Chris
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Here we go!
Hi family and friends,
Well our adventure has started. On New Year's Eve while the rest of the world was celebrating Chris and I were sorting out our gear to make sure that it could fit into one cardboard bike box and one large North Face bag. Our friend Michelle came around and we celebrated New Years Eve - New York time at 9.00pm Pacific Coast time with a glass of champagne as we both knew that a) come 12 o'clock we would be either asleep or b) still frantically figuring out what was to go to Africa and what was to stay on the living room floor! No prizes for guessing who was sleeping and who was still up at midnight! Anyway, after getting the scales from our Studio, the decision was easy - weight dictated what went and what stayed! New Year's Day we headed up to LAX with the mandatory bike box and bag AND got it all past the TSA without losing anything. Miracle!!! The flight to Heathrow, London was uneventful and we arrived Tuesday 2nd to grey skies with the sun trying hard to show an appearance. It lasted all of an hour before the rain and wind set in. Ahhh!!!!! back in blighty!
After leaving our bike boxes at Terminal 4, in anticipation of our flight out of there on January 10th, we drove to Stansted Airport. Chris did well to fight the urge to close eyes and sleep as jetlag was showing it's ugly head all too quickly. Me? I was the princess in the passenger seat who got to sleep however it bit me in the ass at about 3.00am the next morning when I couldn't sleep. Not a pretty sight at breakfast, I can tell ya that! We rocked up to the AirBerlin counter Wednesday 3rd to find out the Trans Atlantic weight restrictions changed and were reduced once you started flying around Europe. It was going to cost us £80.00 to take all our gear which was crazy as we didn't need half of it, it being our Africa warm weather gear and we certainly were not going to be wearing it in wintery Paderborn, Germany. So, in typical Chris and Janet style we did the re pack right there in the middle of the airport floor..(this time Richard we were respectful and managed to not offend any other passengers)...left the bag at Stansted Airport for £12.00 and headed for Germany to see Chris's brother George and family.
We expected snow in Paderborn but got rain! George lives in a place called Bad Lippspringe a small town which is 30 minutes out of Paderborn. Bad is German for spa, Lipp is the name of the river that runs through the town and Springe is the type of water source which is a thermal spring. Wouldn't you know it...I fly to Germany and land in a spa town...don't you love that!!Chris met a guy on the plane who told him about a place in Bad Lippspringe that had a variety of traditional hot saunas and cold plunge pools which had to be sampled. As luck would have it, it's a five minute walk from George's house. No towels allowed, butt naked only!! So after dinner I stayed and sampled the wine while Chris went and did sauna research! The ratio of hotties to non-hotties was not good, Chris held his tongue regarding the evils of eating gluten and declined to offer strength and conditioning advice to all and sundry. All I can say is thank goodness his conversational German is nil BUT the saunas were superb. Tonight we are all going!!
This morning we ran through a forrest which borders George's house. It is rectangular in shape and approximately 10km long by 6km wide. It was amazing to run off road and to have a variety of trails to choose from, all with a definite 'Hansel and Gretel' feel to them. In the middle of the forrest I would not have been surprised to see an old house and the corresponding old lady outside it from the fairy tale. Instead the forrest was full of nordic walkers, people walking their dogs and others cycling to work. Today we went sight seeing and then had a two hour lunch. No alcohol just lots of food..ahh replete! Big bellies ready for tonights sauna!
I have to go as Grace the five year old needs to get on the computer plus Euro sport is showing Biathlon racing.
Hope you are all well. Love ya
Janet (and Chrisxxxxx)
Well our adventure has started. On New Year's Eve while the rest of the world was celebrating Chris and I were sorting out our gear to make sure that it could fit into one cardboard bike box and one large North Face bag. Our friend Michelle came around and we celebrated New Years Eve - New York time at 9.00pm Pacific Coast time with a glass of champagne as we both knew that a) come 12 o'clock we would be either asleep or b) still frantically figuring out what was to go to Africa and what was to stay on the living room floor! No prizes for guessing who was sleeping and who was still up at midnight! Anyway, after getting the scales from our Studio, the decision was easy - weight dictated what went and what stayed! New Year's Day we headed up to LAX with the mandatory bike box and bag AND got it all past the TSA without losing anything. Miracle!!! The flight to Heathrow, London was uneventful and we arrived Tuesday 2nd to grey skies with the sun trying hard to show an appearance. It lasted all of an hour before the rain and wind set in. Ahhh!!!!! back in blighty!
After leaving our bike boxes at Terminal 4, in anticipation of our flight out of there on January 10th, we drove to Stansted Airport. Chris did well to fight the urge to close eyes and sleep as jetlag was showing it's ugly head all too quickly. Me? I was the princess in the passenger seat who got to sleep however it bit me in the ass at about 3.00am the next morning when I couldn't sleep. Not a pretty sight at breakfast, I can tell ya that! We rocked up to the AirBerlin counter Wednesday 3rd to find out the Trans Atlantic weight restrictions changed and were reduced once you started flying around Europe. It was going to cost us £80.00 to take all our gear which was crazy as we didn't need half of it, it being our Africa warm weather gear and we certainly were not going to be wearing it in wintery Paderborn, Germany. So, in typical Chris and Janet style we did the re pack right there in the middle of the airport floor..(this time Richard we were respectful and managed to not offend any other passengers)...left the bag at Stansted Airport for £12.00 and headed for Germany to see Chris's brother George and family.
We expected snow in Paderborn but got rain! George lives in a place called Bad Lippspringe a small town which is 30 minutes out of Paderborn. Bad is German for spa, Lipp is the name of the river that runs through the town and Springe is the type of water source which is a thermal spring. Wouldn't you know it...I fly to Germany and land in a spa town...don't you love that!!Chris met a guy on the plane who told him about a place in Bad Lippspringe that had a variety of traditional hot saunas and cold plunge pools which had to be sampled. As luck would have it, it's a five minute walk from George's house. No towels allowed, butt naked only!! So after dinner I stayed and sampled the wine while Chris went and did sauna research! The ratio of hotties to non-hotties was not good, Chris held his tongue regarding the evils of eating gluten and declined to offer strength and conditioning advice to all and sundry. All I can say is thank goodness his conversational German is nil BUT the saunas were superb. Tonight we are all going!!
This morning we ran through a forrest which borders George's house. It is rectangular in shape and approximately 10km long by 6km wide. It was amazing to run off road and to have a variety of trails to choose from, all with a definite 'Hansel and Gretel' feel to them. In the middle of the forrest I would not have been surprised to see an old house and the corresponding old lady outside it from the fairy tale. Instead the forrest was full of nordic walkers, people walking their dogs and others cycling to work. Today we went sight seeing and then had a two hour lunch. No alcohol just lots of food..ahh replete! Big bellies ready for tonights sauna!
I have to go as Grace the five year old needs to get on the computer plus Euro sport is showing Biathlon racing.
Hope you are all well. Love ya
Janet (and Chrisxxxxx)
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